Why real reviews matter more than fake ones

It can be tempting to fill a listing with five-star reviews. But fake reviews do more harm than good, both for the business and for its customers.

Customers notice

• Only top ratings without details look suspicious.
• Many reviews in a short time, with similar text, raise questions.
• When the experience does not match the reviews, the customer loses trust and does not come back.

Real reviews, including critical ones, make a listing credible. They show what customers actually value and what you can improve.

It is prohibited

Under the Swedish Marketing Act, it is unfair to write or order fake reviews, or to claim that reviews come from real customers without reasonably checking it. The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) supervises these rules. The law also requires anyone who shows reviews to explain how they are checked.

How we work

• Every review is linked to a Google account. Anonymous reviews are not possible.
• A moderator reads every review.
• Reviews of your own business, of competitors and paid reviews are not published.
• We do not check receipts or bookings, and we say so openly.
• Positive and negative reviews follow the same rules.

Payment never affects reviews or ratings. We do not remove honest negative reviews for payment and we do not publish positive ones for payment. Read Does payment affect rankings and reviews? and How rankings work.

How to get more real reviews

• Ask happy customers to write a few lines, for example on the receipt or in a thank-you email.
• Link directly to your listing.
• Reply objectively to criticism and show what you have improved.

How to write a review is described in How to write a review. If you suspect a fake review, see How to complain about an unfair or fake review. All the rules are in Review moderation.

Related

• How to write a review
• How to complain about an unfair or fake review
• Does payment affect rankings and reviews?
• Review moderation
• How rankings work

Sources

• Swedish Marketing Act, marknadsföringslagen (2008:486), in Swedish (riksdagen.se)
• Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket): Review of consumer reviews, memo 2023, in Swedish (konsumentverket.se)