Online reviews that have been written by paid reviewers or directly by manufacturers, vendors, or other stakeholders.
Usually appear on web-pages alongside products for sale on sites
like Amazon or
eBay.
Also appear on shopping aggregators
like Google's shopping pages and many others.
Frequently used tactic to boost a product's image and desirability by appearing to be based on actual user experiences,
but
may also be used to denigrate or put-down products (or services) with negative comments and apparent user experiences.
User experience is the
key to this type of false marketing, or 'lying' about products. With the rise of Social
Media, online
communication has become an important factor in social relationships, becoming one of the newest sources of 'word of mouth'
reviews, comparisons and recommendations. Marketers seek to manipulate this otherwise valuable pool of honest
opinion and
experience by hiring schills to write reviews,
stacking the odds in their favor or against other products unfairly or untruly. By doing
so, they reduce the value of the honest reviews, recommendations and experiences that are usually posted -- many people are
quite honest and the drive to be helpful to other people is one of the strongest of social drives.
"I have used this <product> many times and it is the best <product> available in my city." (actual review
stacking of a brand of
soap)
"This <product> caused my toenails to turn yellow" (actual review stacking of a shampoo)
"It was amazing, started on first
pull and has been powering my whole house and my nabor's sic house for two weeks."
(with a 2500W generator? really? totally review stacking)
