We’ve talked before about tips for spotting a scam email. Another scammy concept we’ve been noticing lately has to do with spammers infiltrating our clients’ review pages. There are a few red flags to look for when picking out a spam review among the rest. Wondering what to do about spam reviews—and how to spot them? Keep reading.
How do I know if a review is spam?
More often than not, it will be pretty obvious whether a review is legitimate—or whether it’s the work of a spammer. Here’s an example of one that came across a client’s page recently.
A few telltale signs of spam that we see in this example:
The review has nothing to do with the client’s brand/business.
It’s talking about investing with a financial expert and mentions a person’s name, neither of which is relevant to our real estate client.
The review is soliciting something.
Most spam is also a scam—trying to illegitimately collect personal information or sell something. We see that clearly in this example.
The review includes someone’s contact information.
A legitimate review is reviewing a brand or business. There should be no need to include contact information like we see here.
What to do about spam reviews
If you do spot a spam review, there are some steps you should take to report it. Here’s an overview of what to do on two of the primary review platforms we deal with on a daily basis: Facebook and Google.
- Click on the three dots next to the review.
- Select “Report post.”
- You’ll be given a list of options. Pick the most relevant one. (In this case, it would be the “spam” option.)
What happens next is largely up to Facebook. Sometimes we have seen Facebook eventually take down the review. Other times we notice it does not get taken down. Either way, when we report spam reviews to Facebook on behalf of our clients, we block/ban the user who posted it to prevent them from doing so again.
When it comes to what to do about spam reviews on Google, the process is similar to Facebook.
- Click on the three dots next to the review.
- Select “Report review.”
- You’ll be given a list of options. Pick the most relevant one. (Google gives more detailed choices here than Facebook. There is a “Spam” option that says, “Review is from a bot, a fake account or contains ads and promotions.”)
Keep in mind—any individual can report a review on any business’ Facebook or Google reviews page. It’s not limited to the business itself as to who can report it.
Summary
In the realm of the internet, we are constantly battling bots, spam, and other nefarious forces. Knowing what to do about spam reviews is one defense in your arsenal against keeping things clean when it comes to your brand’s digital assets.
McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page
