TOLEDO, Ohio — Heading to the reviews section of a business or company is something many do. Whether it's maybe a new dentist, daycare or even a new dinner spot, oftentimes instinct is to take to the internet for reviews of where to go or what to avoid.
Except what if some of those positive and negative reviews were fake?
The Federal Trade Commission found that nearly one in three online reviews are not honest.
"We're all using them now to make decisions on whether to buy a product, where to stay on vacation," Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices, Serena Viswanathan, said.
Last month, WTOL 11 brought you our investigation into the service dog non-profit Pawsible Angels in Findlay, where three families accused the organization of not training their dogs and leaving them out thousands of dollars.
If you look at its reviews, the non-profit is rated 4.7 stars out of 5.
So how is that possible?
WTOL 11 found on the owner's Facebook page that she asked for reviews to boost ratings after two upset clients posted reviews that brought down the organization's ratings.
"Positive reviews are powerful, but I think negative reviews could be even more powerful," said Lane Montz with the Better Business Bureau of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
WTOL 11 asked the owner of Pawsible Angels, Michele Frank, why she posted a request for reviews. She sent WTOL 11 a statement reading:
"As you point out, I put a call out for reviews, and Pawsible's clients responded. My goal was to get more than 6 reviews, as I knew Pawsible had many, many more happy clients than upset ones. I apologize to those who might see it as a red flag. It was not intended to be, and I was not aware it could be."
Montz said that a large amount of reviews suddenly posted within a few days are something to keep an eye out for.
"Did a lot of good reviews come in quickly in a clump? I called that 'clumping' and then they come in in a clump after a bad review or some bad press," Montz said.
Even if the "asked for reviews" were honest, there were also a couple more that trickled in after the 11 Investigates report aired.
"It could be accurate, it could be, but it's a red flag," Montz said.
Those red flags could be costing businesses some green.
The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a rule to give fines to people who write, sell or buy phony reviews.
"It would allow the FTC to get financial penalties up to $50,000 per violation or even to get money back to consumers who lost money due to a fake review," Viswanathan said.
The hope is it will make some think twice before doing it, while also protecting honest businesses.
"This is already against the law," Viswanathan said. "This is false advertising."
So how can you make sure the reviews you're relying on are legit?
Accurate reviews often have facts in them, according to Montz.
"A fake review will often be written like 'we didn't know what to expect when we got here, but my husband and I had a great experience at this bungalow, we can't say enough about how nice the owners were,'" Montz said. "But are there really any facts?"
Check other platforms besides Google, like Facebook or the Better Business Bureau, to see if they all line up.
Even so, you might not want to leave your decision solely to those little stars.
"I would take them for what they're worth, but I would not only rely on online reviews," Montz said.
Montz said they have an algorithm to help spot possible fake reviews. Then their team will contact the one who left the review to see if they're a real person or not and if their experience was real.
The FTC is asking for public comment on that proposed rule. The FTC will review feedback and then decide on the next steps to take.
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