I use Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews to help me decide which restaurants and hotels to visit. I assumed many businesses purchase shill reviews to boost their ratings and try to take that into consideration, but I did't know that the "review dealer" business was so large. You can buy 5-star reviews for your own business and 1-star reviews for your competition.
From Atlas Obscura:
A 2012 Cornell University study found that, after a one-star increase in a hotel's overall review score, that hotel could raise its room rate by 11 percent and wouldn't scare away any new customers.
Jeremy Burke says he contacted the "not-shady-at-all sounding" Silverman Slim's review dealer posing as someone who'd like to get paid to write reviews for businesses:
A representative explained via email that once Silverman Slim's got "sales" for reviews in my area, they would kick me the link. Once I completed each review, I would get compensated through PayPal.
After expressing my enthusiasm for review assignments in both Brooklyn and Toronto—places I legitimately frequent — I didn't hear back for a few days. I sent an email asking for an update. They responded by asking me to share their information with local businesses, negotiate a deal myself, and write the review. And after all that, they'd still take a cut of the profit.
It didn't seem to add up.
