Google Takes Firm Action On Persons Who Share Fake Reviews On The Internet

Illustration of fake reviews on the internet (photo: unsplash)

JAKARTA - Internet and free features such as Google Search, Maps, and YouTube help small businesses build online presence, interact with customers, and develop operations.

Unfortunately, nowadays scammers often work to play with the system by making fake reviews and lists for profit, and as a result it is very detrimental to businesses and consumers.

In response to the issue, Google has finally announced further legal action against bad actors for defrauding and defrauding consumers.

"Our lawsuit is targeting bad actors who are conducting coordinated campaigns to deceive consumers and business owners by cheating on trying to manipulate our services to small businesses," said Renny Hwang, Head of Google Litigation in a Google blog.

Based on Google's lawsuit, the bad actor has posted more than 350 fake Business Profiles and is trying to support him with more than 14,000 fake reviews. It doesn't stop there, they are also trying to sell information about consumers who have been captivated through the false claims.

"Although we detect and remove this deceptive content, we are taking proactive legal action to stop these bad actors from defrauding other platforms and to protect our users," Hwang said further.

Google says their mission is to work to be at the forefront of scammers and protect small businesses by closely monitoring 24-7 for fraudulent content on their products, using a combination of humans and technology.

In 2022 alone, Google admits it has managed to protect more than 185,000 businesses from further abuse after detecting suspicious activity and abuse attempts.

Google also stated that it had discussed and shared insights on fake reviews and other fraudulent supports to the FTC and other regulators, in order to prioritize the responsibility of bad actors for defrauding consumers with false reviews and misleading support.