Online reviews: What should you believe? | SmartPlanet

My regular reader knows that I sometimes like to rail against all these fake review sites that promise to show you “The Top Five Best Online Backup Services,” and fake sites that bill themselves as authoritative sources for objective info on the Industry, when they are really just selling reviews and articles to anyone with a dollar in his hand.

Here’s a good article about it on the Smart Planet blog:

Not only can fake, negative reviews be damaging to a business, but in turn, companies are known to pay others to post positive reviews to bring sales up.

Unfortunately, firms that make money off fake reviews either way are common — but how can consumers know what is real and what isn’t?

via Online reviews: What should you believe? | SmartPlanet.