The global trade of counterfeit and pirated products costs countries like Canada billions a year. Governments and industries must come together to protect Canadians.
Fake reviews of products and services are rampant online – and are often hard to pick out from the real ones.
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A recent extortion scam involved threatening to leave unfavourable reviews to restaurants unless they paid up shows the dangers of relying on the wisdom of crowds.
Survey results suggest about three-quarters of the population trust online reviews at least a moderate amount.
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Writing a negative online review can have serious consequences, so you need to be careful about how, and what, you write.
The stunning hoax of The Shed at Dulwich, deceived millions and showed how willing we are to consume an appetizing story.
(Courtesy VICE /Theo McInnes)
The Shed at Dulwich reached TripAdvisor’s No. 1 spot for restaurants in London before it was revealed to be a hoax. The stunt showed how easily we are fooled. The lesson learned? Trust no one.
Companies may benefit when customers create content, provide feedback and do busywork once done by paid employees, but what about the customers themselves – all of us?
Companies have increasingly been using hidden gag clauses, in which customers unwittingly sign away their rights to post online reviews after purchasing a product.
Sure you’re connected to them, but can you trust them?
Michael Sean Gallagher
Checking online reviews is a big part of shopping. But review sites can be manipulated. Does favoring reviews posted by your social media contacts help with trustworthy, meaningful content?
The internet is an endless source of information. But who is liable if the information is wrong or, at least, misleading? Existing laws on publishing, information and privacy were not designed for the…