Everyone is starting to open their eyes: there is negative online marketing everyone. Most people just pretend otherwise.
The BBC is now all over the case.
In short, Yelp now admits that 25% of all their reviews are fake.
Yup: 25%. One out of every four reviews you read on Yelp is created by SCOUNDRELS.
Lesson: don’t believe everything you read. Be careful. Be skeptical. Be smart.
Then… ask yourself this: WHO is it that is making these fake reviews. What are they doing?
Are they hiring Indians who would otherwise be writing fake SEO articles? (What do the Indians think of the world economy?). “Do Americans really believe this BS?”
There is an art to recognizing the fake article…. and then, once recognized it, to game it to make it sound real.
For example, bad grammar is a clear give-away. But more subtle is, being grammatically correct but uncommon phrasings.
For example, an American would never write, “The restaurant ranks high in qualitative ratings in regards to both the service and the food.” Can’t you just hear that with a Sanjay-ish accent?
Lets try to see what gives that away as Indian.
In every day speech, Americans don’t say things “rank high in” — that’s fake-speak.
In every day speech, Americans don’t talk about “qualitative ratings.”
Good writing, real writing, must sound natural.
Here’s a tip: make it fun. Enjoy it. Can’t you tell that I just LOVE writing out these articles for Negative Online Marketing. Life is short, and I’m going to do this anyway — so why not enjoy it?
