Media Mention

David Weslow Discusses New York Investigation of Fake Online Ratings

U.S. News & World Report
September 24, 2013

David E. Weslow, a partner in Wiley Rein’s Intellectual Property Practice, was quoted by U.S. News & World Report in an article yesterday about penalties levied by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office on 19 companies implicated in false online rating behavior.

Under the guise of owning a yogurt shop, the attorney general’s office solicited help from search engine optimization and online marketing companies to grow its visibility and improve its ratings on sites like Yelp, Google Local, and CitySearch.  Over the course of a year many deceptive techniques were employed by the consultant firms, including creating fake reviews and paying for ratings from overseas users.

The fines—which targeted multiple companies for a combined total of $350,000—were directed at businesses and the online services they had hired to help improve their online profiles through the use of fake reviews.  The investigation’s success raises the risk that companies trying to game the online reputation system could face lawsuits from competitors, or an investigation by an attorney general or the Federal Trade Commission, Mr. Weslow said.

“This appears to be the largest investigation of its kind, since many online ratings investigations involve a single company,” Mr. Weslow said.  “I think consumers will become increasingly aware of websites that are not doing a good job of screening for fake reviews.  It’s remarkable that it’s just as easy to purchase a fake review as it is to purchase 1,000 Twitter followers, or 1,000 Facebook ‘likes.’”

Read Time: 1 min

Related Professionals

Contact

Sarah Richmond
Director of Communications
202.719.4423
srichmond@wiley.law 

Jump to top of page

Wiley Rein LLP Cookie Preference Center

Your Privacy

When you visit our website, we use cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. For more information about how we use Cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Always Active

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies may only be disabled by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functional Cookies

Always Active

Some functions of the site require remembering user choices, for example your cookie preference, or keyword search highlighting. These do not store any personal information.

Form Submissions

Always Active

When submitting your data, for example on a contact form or event registration, a cookie might be used to monitor the state of your submission across pages.

Performance Cookies

Performance cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.

Powered by Firmseek