Amazon, TripAdvisor To Battle Fake Reviews That FTC Wants Banned

Some of the most widely used platforms for travel and online shopping announced on Tuesday that they're teaming up to combat fake reviews, Haleluya Hadero reported for the Associated Press (AP).

TripAdvisor was among the companies joining the coalition aimed at protecting access to "trustworthy consumer reviews" worldwide. I Photo: ID21

Amazon, the review site Glassdoor, and Trustpilot, as well as travel companies Expedia Group, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor, made an announcement that they're launching a coalition aimed at protecting access to "trustworthy consumer reviews" worldwide.

The companies stated that the members of the group, to be called the Coalition for Trusted Reviews, will seek best practices for hosting online reviews and share methods for detecting fake ones.

This will include developing standards for what constitutes a fake review and sharing information about how bad actors operate. Phony reviews have long plagued online marketplaces despite their efforts to eliminate them.

Much of the problem is driven by brokers who solicit fake customer reviews through social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps, and other channels in exchange for money, free items, or other benefits.

Brokers can solicit positive reviews to boost sales for businesses or sellers.

They can also post negative reviews for competitors to sabotage their sales. Federal regulators have also aimed to crack down on bogus reviews that deceive consumers.

In June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that, among other things, would prohibit businesses from selling or obtaining fake reviews, suppressing honest reviews, and selling fake social media engagement.

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