Dealers flooding review sites with fake user reviews

[ryan.leslie]

Wait, Ryan, doesn't Dealer Rater already have a fake review policy of black listing a dealer over fake reviews?

Also while on the fake review subject and talking about Google, several have been using A large Honda dealer in Miami as a perfect example about their 1,200+ reviews! But also lately they have been talked about for fake reviews on Google, with multiple reviews in the same day and week by several user names! Just saying.

Yes Sir, we do.

I think what ddavis is after is the public acknowledgement of a non-compliant review as opposed to just removing it. It is an interesting idea, but I wonder about the consumer experience. I think the consumer might get frustrated wading through the data and wonder why it wasn't just removed.

We currently remove content and advise the dealer of our TOU. If there is another infraction we blacklist.

 

[Eley Duke]

Damnit Ryan, did you just Yes Sir me, stop that mess! If you want to yes sir someone yes sir Uncle Joe!

 

[Dan Rudd]

Have you read ZMOT? Google doesn't agree with your numbers... pg 32
http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/google-zmot.pdf

Most reviews are good. “We’ve found that the worldwide average for product reviews is a 4.3 out of 5.0,” says Brett Hurt of Bazaarvoice. His company provides customer conversation services to corporations ranging from Wal-Mart to Johnson & Johnson. According to Brett, 80% of all reviews online are four to five stars.

Ryan I have read ZMOT and while I agree with much of it I don't take it as the Gospel and admittedly have not read it enough times to site pages.

So my numbers while not scientific are based off of 80 or so dealers giving feedback to the Yelp Rep at Digital Dealer and what I see over all from our 300+ clients.

Even the ones who I know who strive to be the very best in their customer service and business practices still seem to struggle unless they are ferocious about asking for reviews.

So when a Yelp representative amongst an out poring of frustration from a room full of dealers (who are the people who's wellfare I am most intersted in when it comes to reputation ) tells them that they shouldn't ask for reviews I take exception to that. Granted he was not a Google rep.

 

[ryan.leslie]

Ryan I have read ZMOT and while I agree with much of it I don't take it as the Gospel and admittedly have not read it enough times to site pages.

So my numbers while not scientific are based off of 80 or so dealers giving feedback to the Yelp Rep at Digital Dealer and what I see over all from our 300+ clients.

Even the ones who I know who strive to be the very best in their customer service and business practices still seem to struggle unless they are ferocious about asking for reviews.

So when a Yelp representative amongst an out poring of frustration from a room full of dealers (who are the people who's wellfare I am most intersted in when it comes to reputation ) tells them that they shouldn't ask for reviews I take exception to that. Granted he was not a Google rep.

Hey Dan,

I'm no Google fanboy, I can assure you of that. You may have me confused with a guy named Brian (teasing of course)

For awhile here I have been disclaiming every post with "I'm not anti-Google I promise, but..." Honestly the reason that paragraph jumped off the page for me was that I questioned it too. I absolutely agree with you about Yelp. I wasn't at DD10, but "we don't want you to ask," combined with "we only want reviews from Yelpers" is just weird to me. I'm sorry to hear they didn't give a satisfactory answer to those questions.

I've been thinking about this since I read ZMOT. If the global product average is a 4.3 star review, why is it that the automotive community expects a much lower average? Is it dollars? Is it process? Is it outdated negative consumer perception? I think this is one of those BIG questions that may not have a definitive answer, but it's important to work on because it is affecting our process, often negatively in the eyes of the consumer.

There is a balance between "Don't Ask" and "come over here for a minute and write a review for me while we are waiting for the finance guy. You don't type well? NO PROBLEM, let me help you." Don't take it too literally, just trying to make the point. Are you choosing a process that gives you more control out of an irrational fear of a negative review?

Also while on the fake review subject and talking about Google, several have been using A large Honda dealer in Miami as a perfect example about their 1,200+ reviews! But also lately they have been talked about for fake reviews on Google, with multiple reviews in the same day and week by several user names! Just saying.

Mr. Duke, ehem, I mean Eley, (last time I promise, that was for Jerry)

I looked at that place page and I don't know. I really don't think that is a "doctored" set of reviews, but I think we are quickly moving towards a quantity vs quality discussion. We are going to need to get "back to the basics" really early in the lifecycle of Reputation Marketing. What is the REAL point of all this? Are we collecting as many 5 star reviews as we can to improve our rankings and sort order, or are we looking for stories that will compel an unsold prospect to choose us over a competitor? I don't think I need 1200+ 5 star one liners with no real content, I need to identify with someone like me and be able to see how the business I'm considering treated you. Isn't that what WOM is really about?

I could be wrong, it has happened once before...

 

[ddavis]

Ryan, I'm sorry that I gave you a hard time.

There has always been a bad element, within the car business, that either due to lack of talent or poor work ethic would rather jick the system than do things the right way. Not only do these people continue to profit from their activities but when they are dismissed, they land faster than the honest ones.

It is a frustration and an affront to all of the honorable, hard working people, in our industry.

 

[Jeffrey Tognetti]

How would Dealer Rater respond to the ethics of this.
The dealer "opts in" to pay Dealer Rater to address reviews (In this case Tarrytown Honda), and when they write that check to Dealer Rater they can expect this;

A banner ad for their competitor comes up smack in the middle of Tarrytown Honda's contact info above the fold. Making it appear to a consumer calling the phone # on the banner ad that they would be contacting Tarrytown Honda when in fact they are contacting their competitor.
Is this ethical?

I understand that their are similar practices around the web in different venues BUT NONE with a banner ad so strategically positioned that it is in fact deceptive.


"Do as I say, not as I do"

 

[ed.brooks]

Wow - It seems as though this thread that started by seeming to ask a legitimate question; How to deal with dealers flooding review sites with fake user reviews, has degenerated into one vendor slamming another... endlessly. Please refer to Vendor Wars!

Stay Classy!

 

[john.quinn]

The dealer is coerced to pay Dealer Rater to address reviews

I've been on the sidelines for this one, but I do find it a tad insulting that a stranger just suggested to me I was coerced into anything.

 

[Jeffrey Tognetti]

Fair statement, and wrong on my part; change to "Opt In"

 

[Jeffrey Tognetti]

Not a vendor war at all. I actually took the time to read all that was said here and simply replied in kind. I will post no further on thread, and am not soliciting business as we are luckily sufficiently busy.