The president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has charged the companies Opinie.pro and SN Marketing with trading in false opinions. The creation, acquisition and posting of false opinions on the internet is punishable by a financial penalty of up to 10 percent of turnover.
At this point, it is worth quoting the words with which one of the fraudsters used to promote his „marketing” services in the network: „Our operation is conducted fully anonymously, and the care for discretion has been written into the company policy. The service we offer consists in creating professional, positive opinions”.
The President of the UOKiK points out that for several months he has been observing practices of such companies, checking the rules of cooperation, e.g. within the so-called 'whisper marketing’ or the service that consists in 'guaranteeing original and reliable opinions’.
Therefore, we provide a list of some important issues that you should pay attention to when suggesting online reviews:
– pay attention to the way reviews are written – be wary of comments awarding five stars that do not include a detailed description;
– pay attention to whether the terms of publishing and moderating reviews are clear and unambiguous – in particular, who can post reviews;
– if you have been asked to provide a review in exchange for a financial or material benefit – make it clear that this is a post-incentive comment.
Let us remind you that the preparation of a set of comments by the seller and their posting on the internet is illegal.
