Did you see the Inc. magazine article about how restaurants are being attacked online? Read it here. Extortionists are posting fake one-star reviews with no content. They then email the restaurant demanding payment in specific gift cards to remove the reviews. Otherwise, they will continue to regularly post one-star reviews.

Below is a short list of action steps you can take to help protect your brand.

  1. Ensure that you have control of all your listings on top sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor.
  2. Monitor your locations daily for unusual one-star activity.
  3. When you see unusual activity, look for clues in one-star reviews with no content; examples include:
  1. How many other reviews do they have?
  2. Are there others in your area?
  3. Do they have friends (Yelp)?
  4. How old is the account?
  5. Are most of the reviews negative?
  6. Do they have a site accreditation (i.e., Local Guide); if so, what level (i.e., Elite Status)?
  1. Do not reply to these reviews as it may make contesting them more difficult.
  2. Contact each platform citing their content guidelines relevant for the circumstance (i.e., hearsay, hate speech, etc.) to flag the reviews for removal. If you received an email demanding compensation, make them aware of the threat.
  3. Turn off the reviews feature on Facebook until the matter is resolved.
  4. Engage the media about the issue to a) gain popular opinion and awareness and; b) help raise the importance for platforms to take action.
  5. Use a review monitoring system to identify and track all suspicious reviews.

Ideally, having a dedicated team member to discover, dispute, and raise awareness helps address the threats of fake reviews. Using a single guest engagement platform will shorten the time the review is posted, mitigating sales losses and impact on brand equity.

If a dedicated in-house team member isn’t possible, Merchant Centric can also fill that need. Our Reputation Specialists address reviews keeping you in the loop with notifications when replies are posted and alerts for critical reviews. We’ve engaged with over 900,000 reviews for the businesses we serve and can address crises to protect your reputation.

Contact us to learn more about how Merchant Centric’s STARS platform can help you protect your brand.