An investigation conducted by the BBC revealed that some medical clinics have resorted to artificially increasing their online profile with fabricated Google reviews.
Consumer groups assert that bogus reviews are an ongoing and considerable issue and demand that internet providers take measures to erase them and impose fines on companies.
Choosing a treatment clinic on the basis of a fraudulent review could be a major problem, cautions Which?.
The government declared they were making the law stricter to safeguard consumers, while Google stated they had taken down fraudulent reviews.
Phony reviews can be acquired over the Internet and have been said to show up on Amazon, Trustpilot, and the App Store.
The BBC's investigation focussed on Ipswich Spine Clinic, owned and operated by Dr Amit Patel.
The clinic had a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on Google reviews.
However, our exploration revealed that there were numerous people who had awarded the clinic five stars in the Google review section, and had also posted evaluations for 16 similar establishments located in the US, Australia, Austria, and Canada. These businesses catered to a wide array of products, ranging from property conveyancing to car repair and hookah pipes.
A faux client wrote: "Dr. Amit was remarkable...he quickly diagnosed my injury and formulated a course of treatment. I was confident that I was being taken care of, and I strongly suggest going here."
We also identified that five people who had given Ipswich Spine Clinic positive ratings, wrote unfavorable remarks regarding one of their local competitors.
When we got in touch with the clinic, Dr Amit Patel revealed to us that he had delegated his advertising to an organization in India, and was unacquainted with the reviews that were put on Google.
He declared that since being contacted by the BBC, he had requested for any fake reviews to be removed.
Our inquiry took Smiles Better dentistry in Manchester into account.
Rose Bellamy expressed her satisfaction with her experience, noting that the service was both quick and extremely pleasant.
That same month, Rose Bellamy evaluated a removals business in Australia, a cafe in Sweden, an immigration service in Canada, and a spa in the United States.
A variety of reviewers who had given five star ratings on Google had also evaluated the same types of businesses around the globe.
Smiles Better responded to some of their fabricated Google reviews with thank you messages.
The BBC made multiple attempts to contact the dental firm but received no response.
Harry Kind from Which? expressed concern that relying on fake reviews while making significant purchases, such as medical treatment, could have dire results. He stated, "It's bad enough if you buy a pair of badly-made Bluetooth headphones via a deceptive review, but the potential consequences of trusting a false review while obtaining medical services could be disastrous."
It ought to be prohibited to sell, buy, and post fake reviews on any platform; there must be a penalty to discourage people from purchasing such reviews as it is currently simple to do.
A Department of Business and Trade spokesperson declared that the government's Digital Markets, Completion and Consumers Bill will provide new means to tackle this.”
We are toughening up the legislation pertaining to phony reviews to safeguard customers, who reportedly spend an estimated £23 billion annually on items that they purchase as a result of online reviews.
We will be releasing a consultation later in the year regarding our proposals, so we can put them into effect once the Bill is granted Royal Assent, including allowing the [Competition and Markets Authority] to impose fines on these fraudulent traders.
Google affirmed that it eliminates counterfeit reviews and deactivates falsified accounts.
A spokeswoman declared that their policies indicate reviews must be grounded in factual experiences, and when breaches of policy are discovered, they take immediate measures such as deleting content, suspending the account, and even pursuing legal action.
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