To review, or Not to review, that is the question:

I am damn sure if Shakespeare had been alive today, he would have made Hamlet ask this question.

Online reviews have become the be-all and end-all for brands now. Let me give you a few situations:

Situation No. 1:

You have booked a cab ride home and nearly hopping out after the journey and paying your fare when the cabbie butts in. “Please rate us on the ride, It is very important.” And before you can even reply, he smiles from ear to ear before bidding you a bye.

Situation No. 2:

You desperately want to shop that skincare product only. It is exclusively available on xyz.com. Now I know that you are wise enough not to stuff your cart and place your order like an express train zooms off! You would be patiently reading customer reviews, check out if the product was actually worth the price or just silly stuff. Your cart of patience would wait to fillup, once you find an overall positive review.

Situation No. 3:

You are raving to visit this newly launched restaurant on the other side of the street. All set and ready to go? Wait a minute. I guess you have forgotten something. Arey, that app on your phone with all the details of eateries everywhere in your city, let us check the reviews before hopping in.

Reviews, reviews and reviews. I know you would echo my thoughts if I tell you that reviews online build our opinions about products and places more than our parents these days.

Will you, however, believe me, if I tell you that of each product/brand review you go through, more than half of them happen to be fake? Surprise much? Yes, fake reviews do exist very much like you and me on the other side of the computer screen.

Hold my hand as I take you through the tunnel of fake and genuine reviews so that you can see the light on the other end.

1. To Enhance Social Media Positioning of a brand:

Fake reviews can stem either from paid reviewers or from bloggers or vloggers who get free products as PR.

If you Google for sites, you would find thousands of them across the Internet offering personalised and carefully designed templates for emails, order-filtering options and even options for black-listing. The main aim of these software-based sites is to uplift the customer service of the brand through reviews or positive feedbacks. They generally function by following up with customers by requesting feedbacks and reviews to build a steady brand image.

And that is not all. Freelancers get paid for providing positive comments and online reviews, which influence their Google or Facebook rankings. There are plenty of online sellers who use these to their advantage in business.

If Google Analytics is a weather-beaten route to the online positioning of a company, paid reviews are the perfect shortcut for this.

From a customers perspective, when we browse products from online e-commerce sites, we usually shop with a premeditated idea of the 5-star ratings of products or slightly below that; the ones with lower-ranking placed way behind. Analysts proved themselves as right when they came up with the theory ninety-nine per cent five stars rated reviews as fraudulent.

2. To Force-sell Average Quality Products:

There are many products in the market which are just so-so to use and packed with all glitz and glam. These over-hyped items stay on the top only through fake reviews and praiseworthy recommendations.

3. To Bring Down a Competitor’s Product:

Paid negative reviews listed online or even by trusted Youtubers on their channels can greatly denigrate a competitor’s product.

Of late, the world’s famed e-commerce sites have devised policies to weed out fake reviews from their portals and enhance their trustworthy image, but is it for a lost cause? No, the solution lies among all of you, though the path might look tedious. More than 90% of the buyers on online sites hardly give time to put their genuine feedback after purchase which needs to be taken care of. More genuine reviews on purchases can weed out fake online reviews with time. When your sole purchase of buying relies on your reading of online reviews, I think you should be reading genuine comments only.

Give a thought about the reviews you read online. Feel genuine and write genuinely.