With the accessibility of the internet, more and more consumers are depending on it for shopping and getting reviews about businesses. From looking for holiday getaways, comparing different books, finding a new restaurant, to discovering the best brand of cosmetics, consumers are sure to find what they are after with a few clicks of their mouse. Review websites are perceived as sites with great value as these contain comments about different products and services from customers themselves. Recently, however, it was found out that major websites like Amazon have fake reviews written by writers employed by different companies to rave about their products while putting down products of their competitors.

Zero Credibility for Reviews

Obviously, the news that there were fake reviews on Amazon led consumers to question the credibility of review sites. While companies engaged in writing positive fake reviews will certainly benefit from an increase in sales, their competitors will suffer as a result of negative comments left with malicious intentions. What’s even worse is that it can be difficult to trace who left fake reviews because anyone can post comments anonymously. Knowing now that the reviews seen on Amazon and other websites can be false, how will consumers know which business to trust when it comes to different products and services?

Differentiating True From False Reviews

Just because there are fake reviews on Amazon doesn’t mean that all reviews posted there have become unreliable as well. It’s simply a matter of knowing which ones are false and which ones are genuine. One way to get the real score on a particular product is to read several reviews from different sources before buying it. Doing so will decrease the chances of reading biased reviews and will help give you a clearer picture about the quality of a product. You might also want to check out the reviewer’s profile in case there are only few comments. In the case of Amazon.com, clicking on the reviewer’s name will show you all other reviews that he or she has written on Amazon. The choice of words used in writing the review will also give you a gist if the review is genuine or not.

Victim of Fake Reviews

If you are the owner of a product that has been splattered with fake reviews on Amazon, the only way you can find out who has written it is to file a lawsuit. A subpoena can then be given to Amazon to provide information such as the email address of the user as well as IP log information. Keep in mind that no lawsuit equals no subpoena so this is very important. Since you do not know who has written the fake reviews on Amazon, you can simply file the case against “John Doe” which can then be replaced later on as the real culprit is identified. While Amazon and other review websites may not be held liable for the defamatory reviews made by their users, they are still responsible for removing the content once the court makes a ruling in your favor.