Brooklyn Yogurt Shop Sting Snares Fake Reviewers For NY Attorney General 168
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Reuters reports that nineteen companies caught writing fake reviews on websites such as Yelp, Google Local and CitySearch have been snared in a year-long sting operation by the New York Attorney General and will pay $350,000 in penalties. The Attorney General's office set up a fake yogurt shop in Brooklyn, New York, and sought help from firms that specialize in boosting online search results to combat negative reviews. Search optimization companies offered to post fake reviews of the yogurt shop, created online profiles, and paid as little as $1 per review to freelance writers in the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe. To avoid detection the companies used 'advanced IP spoofing techniques' to hide their true identities. 'This investigation into large-scale, intentional deceit across the Internet tells us that we should approach online reviews with caution,' said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. 'More than 100 million visitors come to Yelp each month, making it critical that Yelp protect the integrity of its content,' said Aaron Schur, Yelp's Senior Litigation Counsel."
Well done! (Score:0, Insightful)
I clap my hands. Only question is - how did they found out who was paying for crimes?
wouldn't that be yelps problem? (Score:4, Insightful)
it seems to me, if yelp is interested in preserving it's value to customers, part of that would be preventing fake reviews. why would we get our legal system involved? not to mention - when did it become illegal to lie on the internet...or conversly - when did the internet become even close to being legitimate enough that you need the legal system to protect it's truthfulness?
Re:wouldn't that be yelps problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yet, oddly enough, paying yelp to remove negative reviews doesn't seem to fall under those headers.
Re:cost of doing business (Score:4, Insightful)
The government isn't in the business of being a business, so profit isn't the intention. The value to them isn't the fines as much as it to get people to follow the rules and fining them is one of the ways to do that. So if the AG spent $500,000, but it cuts down false reviews by 20%, they might consider it money well spent.
Now, if they spent $500,000 in a tax collection effort (something to bring in more money) that only yielded $350,000, then it would be a failure, but that's not what this was.
Seinfeld Episode (Score:4, Insightful)
This sounds suspiciously like a Seinfeld episode.