Much like the offline world, the world of online reputation management is not exactly fair. You may use the best practices, but that does not mean that your competitors will be. So, in addition to making sure that you’re doing everything to ensure that your customers are supplied with a realistic view of what your business stands for, you will also need to keep an eye out for what your competitors might be doing to hurt your business.

This does not mean that you should spend every waking minute seeing if anything has changed. You will drive yourself nuts trying to do that. Additionally, you will not be doing yourself any good if you are constantly clicking on your competitor’s review pages. It will have the reverse effect of what you are trying to accomplish. Instead, you should be going over the reviews that you are receiving. This will help you to paint a picture of what your competitor may be doing. Pay attention to anything that may seem suspicious and take note of the review.

Throughout this blog, we will be discussing what you can do if you think your competitor is buying reviews. We are going to focus on the negative reviews on your page. The reason is, you should not spend too much time looking at their reviews as you will be providing validity to the review pages of a direct competitor.

Nothing New

These games of cat and mouse are nothing new in the business world. Companies place online and offline ads that target their competitors all the time. Think back a few decades to “The Pepsi Challenge.” They would have a “blind taste test” and show how many customers preferred Pepsi to Coke. Of course, Pepsi was the one that made the ad and would surely only show the instances where the taste tester chose their brand. This type of thing has been happening since the dawn of capitalism. There are many people that state targeting a competitor is an excellent way for a small brand to become a household name.

This game of cat and mouse is alive and well on the internet as well. You can create ads specifically tailored to customers that have followed a competitor’s brand. You can show them all the reasons that they should make the switch to your brand. Likewise, you can focus your attention on customers that have searched your competitor’s brand on Google. The only limit to how you can target their customers is your imagination.

This usually is nothing more than a case of one-upmanship. In other words, your competitor makes an ad about how much better their company is than yours. You, in turn, create an ad telling customers how much better your brand is than theirs. This can be a lot of fun, and slightly funny to the consumer until one of you crosses the line.

Signs of a Negative Campaign

There are many signs that a competitor is running a negative campaign against your company. Below, you will find a few of the most telling signs.

1. There is a sudden and sharp influx of negative reviews on your sites
2. The stream of positive reviews is suddenly interrupted with a string of negative reviews that target specific aspects of your business. This would include but is not limited to, your staff, your products, your service, and you.
3. Online reviews are pointing your customers to a direct competitor.

Remember, some of these reviews may be genuine. You are going to need a lot of proof before you can point the finger at someone for buying negative reviews.

What to Do

If you suspect that someone in your area is buying reviews, you are going to have to do your homework. Take a look at the list below to see just what you should do.

1. Research other competitors – Take the time to look at the reviews of all the direct competitors in your area. If someone is buying reviews, you will often see a trend. Check the dates, times, and wording that is used. In actual cases of foul play, you will find there is a slew of negative reviews that are all around the same time and use the same words. If you find one company without these reviews, they are likely the one buying reviews. 
2. Compile evidence – Should you find the one that you suspect is buying reviews, you are going to need to gather proof. This can be done by screenshotting all of the negative reviews. This should be done of all competitors that are suffering at the hands of the other competitor. Additionally, you are going to want to take a screenshot showing their untarnished reputation.
3. Know the rules for each platform – Once you have compiled your proof, you are going to need to approach each review platform individually. Contact them and ask them to review the list you have provided them. If they can come to the same conclusion that you have, you will have a chance they will remove the negative reviews. Of course, they are under no obligation to remove a review. However, if they are a serious review site, they will want to. After all, it is the aim of these sites to be trusted. False reviews detract from that image.

Conclusion The online reputation management world is everchanging one. We work tirelessly to provide our customers with a solution to many of the problems that they face on the internet. The most profound examples are those that include negative reviews. These negative reviews are hard to get rid of. No matter if you have ample evidence or not you will struggle to rid yourself of them. We wish you the best of luck with your business. As always, if there is anything that we can do to be of assistance, do not hesitate to drop us a line. We will work to make sure that you have the reputation that you deserve both on and offline.