Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Brooklyn Yogurt Shop Sting Snares Fake Reviewers For NY Attorney General

Posted by Unknown on from the believe-nothing dept.

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."

21 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. ..as little? by gl4ss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    that's huge money for such little work. especially in countries like bangladesh.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:..as little? by SJHillman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Depends on your perspective. If your perspective is a Bangladesh worker, it's huge. If your cost perspective is an American spender, it's tiny. This article is written for first-world readers, so $1 is tiny.

    2. Re:..as little? by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Again, the perspective of $1 being tiny is from the American *spender*, which would be a business. Most businesses would likely consider it a marketing expense, so they could get 300 reviews for the same cost as printing brochures and it will likely have a much bigger impact than brochures.

    3. Re:..as little? by digitalchinky · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nope, no money for a huge amount of work. This has been a growing industry here in the Philippines for at least the last 5 years. Google "sulit money from home" and you'll get an inkling of how popular it is. Most people get burned, promised a few thousand USD per month, never see a cent, and the only contact info they have is a cellphone number that is no longer in service. The majority of these businesses require an upfront 'starters' fee, usually somewhere around $50 to $100 USD - crazy, feeds and scams off the gullible at both ends. It brings a lot of money in to the country, so it won't stop any time soon.

    4. Re:..as little? by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but the review can't be in typical bilingual "English": "The yogurts are very nice in these establishment. I hunger for yogurts from such good flavours."

      The reviews would read like a Nigerian email scam.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  2. Dark Helmet's review by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Yogurt! Yogurt! I hate Yogurt! Even with strawberries."

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    1. Re:Dark Helmet's review by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yoghurt? Probably it's based on the movie "Lahsi come home"

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    2. Re:Dark Helmet's review by auric_dude · · Score: 4, Funny

      All part of the ever growing culture of yogurt reviews.

  3. Can't trust Internet comments?! by The_Star_Child · · Score: 5, Funny

    What has the world come to?!

  4. wouldn't that be yelps problem? by Anonymous Coward · · 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?

    1. Re:wouldn't that be yelps problem? by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Probably around the time billions of sales dollars a year are highly influenced by online reviews, articles, etc. It's always been illegal to lie online if the lying falls under libel or slander laws, as well as fraud, false advertising, etc.

    2. Re:wouldn't that be yelps problem? by geminidomino · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yet, oddly enough, paying yelp to remove negative reviews doesn't seem to fall under those headers.

  5. Re:What's a Yelp? by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've never used your services. Are you somehow relevant somewhere?

  6. Re: What's a Yelp? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did she yelp?

  7. Re:cost of doing business by SJHillman · · Score: 3, 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.

  8. Where's the Yogurt? by barlevg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm unclear: was this fake Yogurt shop actually listed on Yelp? Or did he just pose as a Yogurt shop owner and seek the help of SEO firms?

    If the former, one might imagine a hapless Brooklynite trying to find this awesome place they read about on Yelp and being sorely disappointed when the address ended up being, what? A PO box? And then wouldn't they then go onto Yelp and report the address as wrong?

  9. Used advanced IP spoofing? Where's Carmen Ortiz? by schwit1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Where are the feds with this one? IP spoofing was one of the charges the feds used to intimidate Aaron Swartz.

  10. Seinfeld Episode by chill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This sounds suspiciously like a Seinfeld episode.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
  11. Been Going On For A Long Time by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Informative

    This kind of thing has been going on for as long as there have been online comments about products. One of the first sites I ran was an infomercial product review site. I got some great reviews saying how good or awful products were (tip: don't buy Epil-Stop). I would also get a sudden flood of positive reviews on a product. At that time, the fake reviewers weren't too sophisticated so you could tell that the 100 positive reviews from 100 "different people" were coming from the same IP address. I'd junk them but even at the time it was a lot of effort for what was a one man operation. I can sympathize with the comments moderation teams at Yelp, Amazon, and any other place that accepts user comments on products but tries to weed out fake ones.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  12. Re:cost of doing business by PlusFiveTroll · · Score: 5, Informative

    >And what rules were broken

    http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/GBS/22-A/350-a

    Don't be a dumbass, there has been false advertising laws for years to deal with issues like this in meatspace. Lying out of your ass about products your are selling has nothing to do with free speech.

  13. Re:Texting and navigation by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 3, Funny

    Do you sometimes wish you'd replied in the right thread?

    --
    No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.