Are all Google reviews genuine?

parking_question_chap

Hi

Am looking for a decent physio in my area. I dont know anybody that has used one recently so looking at Google reviews. One has 7x5star reviews, but they were all from 7 months ago, and each person has only made one contribution. It just seems a bit odd to me.

John_Gray

"Are all Google reviews genuine?"
The obvious answer is No.
I would agree with your suspicions in this case.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

All review are genuine. All emails are genuine. No one will con you on face buck. Twitter has all eyes,

djpailo

parking_question_chap wrote: »

Hi

Am looking for a decent physio in my area. I dont know anybody that has used one recently so looking at Google reviews. One has 7x5star reviews, but they were all from 7 months ago, and each person has only made one contribution. It just seems a bit odd to me.

Use reviews with a pinch of salt.

For products, I read the bad reviews first and try to see if there is a common fault with a product or whether it was just an isolated case.

In this case, it might be worth asking your local GP too.

DavidP24

parking_question_chap wrote: »

Hi

Am looking for a decent physio in my area. I dont know anybody that has used one recently so looking at Google reviews. One has 7x5star reviews, but they were all from 7 months ago, and each person has only made one contribution. It just seems a bit odd to me.

No, you can pay companies to do fake reviews, if Google spots it the biz is screwed, there are a plethora of review platforms. Yelp, NHS, etc just remember that people are about 10x as likely to leave a negative review than a positive one.

What you need to look for is a place that does not have a high staff turnover.

Use your social circles, whether they be FB or local network.

Call the co, ask how long in biz, ask names of clinicians, ask how long each has been there.

Bamber19

I'd say with some businesses more reviews will be fake than genuine.

As an example a few years back I rented a flat through a business called "Castle Residential" in Paisley (happy to name them obviously) and their google reviews are very positive but if you look up the managers or director on facebook they seem to be friends with a surprisingly high number of those positive reviewers. I didn't have any great problems with them other than some unfair deductions from deposit when I left which the deposit holding company agreed were unfair and additionally the unlawful charges for credit checks etc (not sure of the situation down south but they are unlawful up here) that everyone seems to just accept. I do find it very unprofessional to have your pals leave positive reviews though although I can understand why some businesses do it as people who have a bad experience are more likely to leave a review so 20 happy customers and one angry one might lead to 1 negative review and no positive reviews which is equally not a fair reflection of the business

paddyrg

Clearly suspect. It would put me off that company to be honest.

For Amazon (if it helps anyone), the company reviewmeta.com have a very clever set of algorithms to suggest how trustworthy a product's reviews are.

forgotmyname

All positive reviews are spam and all negative ones are to be treated with suspicion.

bigfreddiel

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth wrote: »

All review are genuine. All emails are genuine. No one will con you on face buck. Twitter has all eyes,

Face buck?

S0litaire

you have to remember with Google's review service it's VERY localized! (unlike a review on Amazon which is worldwide)

If they are "star only" reviews, then it's more likely "friends and family" leaving them so take with a big bag of salt (to heck with this "pinch" malarkey!!)

If they have actual reviews to go with the stars then a handful of so-so and positive reviews might be genuine.

In my opinion:
Google reviews are not that well known, so you don't tend to get the mass automated 5* :oh my gosh this is an amazing company/person/shop!!!111 entries other review sites have. But have a talk with the physio directly and see what you gut tells you (rather than your sore joints!)