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Operation Clean Turf and the War on Fake Yelp Reviews

Businessweek

Were the 19 companies accused of commissioning fake online reviews the only firms out there engaged in this nefarious practice? Mmm, no. Not likely. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says 15% to 20% of all reader reviews might be fake. A lot of the attention generated by the New York attorney general’s investigation has focused on Yelp, but in fact Yelp came out of it looking pretty good. The review site now says it helped identify businesses to investigate. The AG’s office, for its part, says Yelp is the “most aggressive” of the major review sites in filtering out suspect reviews. But you have to take Yelp’s word for it that its filter is effective, because the company won’t say how the filter works. That would only tip off the mendacious. - Andy O’Connell