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Bogus online reviews are quite rampant nowadays even though the practice can be considered unethical. Consumers used to rely heavily on reviews found in different websites when it comes to different matters such as choosing a hotel, restaurant, electronics, and even toys until reports of fake reviews became too many to ignore. Fake reviews take away the whole point of review websites such as Google Places, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Amazon which is to provide consumers with reliable information regarding different businesses. Consumers are not the only ones affected as companies on the receiving end of fake bad reviews are also feeling the impact of these reviews on their businesses. 

Who is Behind These Fake Reviews?

Websites where you can leave reviews usually allow its users to have a screen name to protect their real identity. As such, it can be difficult to pinpoint who exactly is writing these bogus online reviews. However, these reviews are usually written by individuals hired by companies themselves. The company merely hires a group of writers to post positive reviews about their products on different websites. Some companies even go as far as to hire people to write criticisms about their competitors’ products to ruin their reputation among consumers. Writers of fake reviews are rarely caught simply because most business owners cannot be bothered to pursue a case given the lawyer’s fees and other costs involved. Some companies also do not know how to go about litigation. 

Catching the Culprit

If you wish to find out who is behind the bogus online reviews of your business, the only way to go about it is through the court. You need to hire a lawyer and file a defamation lawsuit against the writer. You don’t need to know the writer’s identity yet when you file a lawsuit and it can be merely filed against “John Doe”. You cannot get information from the website where the review is posted regarding the particular user if you do not get a court order to serve a subpoena to the concerned website. In order to obtain an order for subpoena, you must have already filed a lawsuit beforehand. You cannot actually file a lawsuit against the website itself as these are usually under the protection of the Communications Decency Act. They are not liable for their users’ actions and will not respond to any requests to have the fake review removed unless the user has posted something obviously profane. 

Getting Websites to Respond

It is not always easy to get a website such as Google or Yahoo to respond to your requests. More often than not, these companies will simply ignore you if you do not go through the proper legal proceedings. To get a website to comply with a subpoena request, a lawsuit should first be filed in the U.S. if the company is based in the same. The subpoena should then be stamped by court and properly served. Information asked for in the subpoena should be no older than six to twelve months and only specific and limited details will be released by the website. Once the court rules in your favor, you need to present the website with a copy of the court ruling before they will actually remove the bogus online reviews.

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