Comments on: FTC Extracts $250,00 Fine for Affiliate Reviews & Endorsements http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/17/ftc-extracts-25000-fine-for-affiliate-reviews-endorsements/ Developing Knowledge about Local Search Fri, 24 May 2013 22:15:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Curt http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/17/ftc-extracts-25000-fine-for-affiliate-reviews-endorsements/comment-page-1/#comment-551448 Curt Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:30:54 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9475#comment-551448 I recently found that the Larry H. Miller Used Car Supermarket in Sandy, UT does something like this. Only they use a company called ReviewBoost who actually collects reviews from real customers. They take those reviews and filter out the negative ones posting ONLY the positive reviews. I don’t believe they ask the customer to rate it 1-5 stars, I believe this is just a judgement call on behalf of the agency rep. If it sounds positive give it 5 stars and a “Best Ever” rating. Then they go back in with other fake Google Accounts and rate the positive reviews as helpful and the negatives from other actual customers as “not helpful” so Google will falsely overstate the actual star rating. To me, this is a gray area. Yet, at best it’s highly unethical! I posted some screenshots of what it looks like for the Larry H. Miller Used Cars dealership in Sandy, UT.

]]> By: Mark http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/17/ftc-extracts-25000-fine-for-affiliate-reviews-endorsements/comment-page-1/#comment-546559 Mark Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:48:20 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9475#comment-546559 If you have not already read this I found it very interesting: Astroturfing

Wonder if the FTC is going to follow up on this kind of fraud?

]]> By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/17/ftc-extracts-25000-fine-for-affiliate-reviews-endorsements/comment-page-1/#comment-546538 Mike Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:55:17 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9475#comment-546538 @John

Yes, the practice is widespread. In the case of SEO’s, the FTC decision in the iTunes’s case makes it clear that whether an agency is acting with or without business approval, they are legally responsible. So the practical impact is beyond ethics for an agency into behavior that can be construed as illegal and punished with huge fines. Hardly seems worth the risk… unlike “black hat” SEO where you are only violating Google’s rules, here you are “messing with the man” at both the state and federal levels.

If a small company has never dealt with either, I can say that it is a brutalizing experience.

Mike

]]> By: John http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/17/ftc-extracts-25000-fine-for-affiliate-reviews-endorsements/comment-page-1/#comment-546537 John Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:41:39 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9475#comment-546537 @Mike

>>>From where I sit, it can happen none too soon.<<<

I totally agree. I have also noticed SEOs writing reviews for clients. Pretty easy to spot and totally unethical, IMO.

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