Company paying for positive reviews on Indeed, Glassdoor and Google maps, legal ???

Jimmy_Boy

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right section for this, if not please move.

My company has quite a bad reputation on Indeed, Glassdoor and Google maps, with good reason - they are not a good employer.

They are trying to combat this by 'incentivising' staff to leave a positive review, 'one lucky person' will be picked at random for leaving a review and will receive £100, with a runner up getting £25.

Today they have announced who has won the £100 and £25, and I also see the positive 5 star review that has been left.

This doesnt seem right to me and makes me question the legality of it, and if it is illegal, what are the steps required to get this looked into ?

Thanks in advance.

Dakta

quick google gave this - https://help.glassdoor.com/article/Fraudulent-reviews/en_US/

I beleive what they do is against the principle or purpose of the site, it's a bit unethical, not sure on the legalities but as I beleive fake reviews can be illegal it might be so.


BUT

There's a lot of lies, fake reviews etc on the internet. If you speak to glassdoor if you're lucky they might investigate it, pull it, flag the company etc, but my gut feeling as that's as good as realistically it'l get.

Any reason it particularly annoys you?  It might give a false impression of the company but in all fairness I think most people take the reviews with more than a pinch of salt anyway. 

Jimmy_Boy

I read another article - https://ignitevisibility.com/can-you-pay-people-to-write-positive-reviews-on-google/

This suggests it is frowned upon (on google maps) and it could be taken up with the FTC, but im not sure what the equivalent of the FTC is here in the UK.

I feel like it is 'baiting' potential new staff into believing the company is better than what it is by having fake paid for reviews.

Dakta

I wouldn't worry about it, fake reviews are part of internet culture and maybe I'm out of touch but it whilst its always nice to have a cursory glance at these things I don't think many streetwise (in the internet sense) would apply much weight to it? 

Most companies except the smaller ones will have multiple departments, managers, locations and conditions and cultures so whilst a positive review might get people sucked in, bad reviews might put good people off roles they might enjoy, and basically peoples experiences will differ so its all a load of cobblers really. And let's face it, if a horrible company can persuade people to write good reviews of the company, the employees are just as corrupt and in all reality the wrongdoing is on them IMO. The company may be dangling a carrot, but the integrity loss also weighs on the person posting untruths.

That said, thats just my opinion - you can report these companies and if you're lucky they might investigate/take the reviews down.

Jimmy_Boy

It doesnt sit well with me as I know a lot of staff who are very unhappy (im on my last month now) and based on other genuine reviews many others feel the same way, I dont like the idea of a company trying to 'buy' a good reputation. The company is the pits... and I would rather people read genuine reviews than fake paid for positive reviews.

74jax

What was the wording of the incentive?
My old company ran something similar as we were trying to attract new people to look at us to apply, but you could do the review in your own time and didn't have a manager with you telling you what to write, so you were free to put what you wanted.
If you could show an email saying something like 'cut and paste this' I would definately submit it to glass door. 

If you are looking to leave, it wouldn't cross my mind to give it a 2nd thought. Leave and don't look back. No one would join a company based on this alone.

What you don't enjoy, others might. You are leaving so let others either love it or leave too. 

Undervalued

Jimmy_Boy said:

It doesnt sit well with me as I know a lot of staff who are very unhappy (im on my last month now) and based on other genuine reviews many others feel the same way, I dont like the idea of a company trying to 'buy' a good reputation. The company is the pits... and I would rather people read genuine reviews than fake paid for positive reviews.

That is exactly what every company, political party, politician or individual who employs a PR company does!

I think you (and others) are taking the whole business of online reviews too seriously. They are virtually unpoliceable. Plus, there are just as many issues with fake negative reviews left by competitors and those with an unfair grievance or axe to grind. 

[Deleted User]

I know when I simply attempted to look at something on Glassdoor other day, I was forced out of two options, one being to leave a review on one of my Employer’s to access it, so I’m not sure they will do much.

I have heard of companies in the past to put this sort of onus on staff within to write reviews. 

oh_really

In the interest of balance have you left your own scathing reviews?

Diamandis

Jimmy_Boy said:

It doesnt sit well with me as I know a lot of staff who are very unhappy (im on my last month now) and based on other genuine reviews many others feel the same way

Then you and all the unhappy people should leave honest reviews, if theres so many unhappy people that will have more impact than the few people who wrote positive ones. 

Marcon

Jimmy_Boy said:

It doesnt sit well with me as I know a lot of staff who are very unhappy (im on my last month now) and based on other genuine reviews many others feel the same way, I dont like the idea of a company trying to 'buy' a good reputation. The company is the pits... and I would rather people read genuine reviews than fake paid for positive reviews.

Most people would prefer to read genuine reviews, but that boat sailed a long time ago and few people now give much credence to what they read online, whether for an employer, a product, a service or anything else.

Leave your own honest review and then move on.