Surely most of us when we are in front of our computer, tablet or smartphone browsing in search of something we want to buy, the first thing we look at is the price, right ? But many of us right after we stop to Look at opinions and comments about the product we want, the spa we are going to go on vacation or the hotel where we want to go on a weekend.

Opinions and comments on the internet play a key role, from a strategic, promotional or advertising point of view, when it comes to convincing customers to take the final step and decide. A study by Branding Brand states that these suggestions issued unselfishly by other users could improve the confidence of customers on the page, as well as inciting them to purchase. Their data indicate that the positive reviews improve the conversion by 29%, and increase the amount of the shopping cart by up to 13%; An influence that is especially evident when it comes to expensive products.

The products and services with better opinions or more stars usually take the palm and companies are very aware of it, hence their eagerness to get them at all costs. What has led some of them to perform the so-called astroturfing, this strategy aims to provide realism to these comments that in fact would be sponsored by the same companies:

We recently discovered that Samsung is being investigated by Taiwan trade officials for possible payments to students to criticize via online with comments on technology and mobile phone blogs to rival company HTC and praise Samsung; All this anonymously, according to information from PC Advisor. A practice that, if proven, could cost you a whopping 650,000 euros.

It would not be the first, nor unfortunately the last company accused of this malpractice. Already in 2009 Lifestyle Lift, a plastic surgery franchise in New York was fined $ 300,000 for the publication of false ads on the internet, from which it publicly pledged to always certify the authenticity of the testimonies and images used on its website.

In one way or another, there is a whole market of “positive comment”, in the hands of companies that have authentic battalions of these “generators of influence”, who are dedicated solely and exclusively to extolling the benefits of such a brand or product; Not to mention those who choose to plague the competition, in order to make their brand come out favored.

With this amount of garbage only confuse the customer and cause discredit on the online medium. 

Gartner estimates that in the next two years 1 in 10 positive comments we find on the internet will be false. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action on the matter, stating that it plans to target two companies included in the Fortune 500.

The best weapon to detect these comments is common sense, customers are not fools and, given the existence of many of these praises, prefer to distrust. According to the eMarketer report on online critics and user confidence in comments, only 2 out of 3 will believe something that appears in this type of opinions.

Fortunately more and more the consumer on the internet is much smarter and seeks opinions everywhere knowing how to select very well. But to be much calmer here are some tips to know how to distinguish possible false comments.

• The source. If the page is trusted, the comments should be too.
• The author. If you see that the person who made that comment has only made one, distrust.
• The language in which it is written. If the comment is expressed in a language other than that of the page, … bad subject.
• The orthography. Be wary if the comments are poorly written, both mispronounced and misspelled.
• What it actually says. Extensive and abstract comments are usually not true, but rather cater to mass-published texts on various channels.
• Let there be more comments on that same product. If this is an isolated statement, and there is no other statement that reaffirms this position, it probably is not true.
• If it is too negative, or incredibly positive. Both extremes are usually not the result of a sincere opinion, but they seek to attract attention, causing discredit.

What is certain is that, if these comments are shown to be false, the customer will feel cheated and will distrust the brand that hides behind them; Damaging its reputation, something that will be difficult to repair.