Why real reviews matter more than fake ones

It can be tempting to get a few extra five-star reviews. But fake reviews harm both customers and the business itself. Here is why.

Customers can tell

Many people read reviews before they choose a place. If all reviews look the same, are short and only positive, or many arrive in a short time, people become suspicious. A mixed picture with specific details is more convincing than a perfect score.

It is illegal

Under the Danish Marketing Practices Act, it is prohibited to write, order or buy fake reviews and to give a misleading picture of what customers think. The Danish Consumer Ombudsman (Forbrugerombudsmanden) supervises these rules and can report businesses that break them to the police. The Consumer Ombudsman's guidelines also say that both positive and negative reviews must be shown.

How we check reviews

• Every review is linked to a Google account. Anonymous reviews are not possible.
• Our moderators read every review. Reviews of your own business, of competitors and paid reviews are not published.
• Positive and negative reviews follow the same rules.
• We do not check receipts or bookings, so we cannot confirm that every author has actually used the business.

The rules are in Review moderation.

Payment does not change reviews

We do not remove honest negative reviews for payment, and we do not publish positive ones for payment. Payment does not affect our editorial rankings either. See Does payment affect rankings and reviews? and How rankings work.

How to get more real reviews

• Ask happy customers to write about their experience, for example on the receipt or in an email after the visit.
• Ask all customers, not only the ones you think are happy.
• Never offer money, discounts or gifts for a review.

If you want to write a review yourself, see How to write a review. If you see a review you think is fake, see How to complain about an unfair or fake review.

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

• Danish Marketing Practices Act, markedsføringsloven, consolidated act no. 1420 of 2 December 2024, in Danish (retsinformation.dk)
• Danish Consumer Ombudsman (Forbrugerombudsmanden): Guidelines on publishing user reviews, in Danish (forbrugerombudsmanden.dk)