Review Spam – Which Categories Are Worst?

Which categories of businesses are most likely to buy reviews? You will find many of the usual suspects and a few surprises as well.

I have been exploring review spam networks, review spammers (aka spewers) and the businesses that buy these fake reviews.  In April I wrote about a particular review spam network that seemed very pervasive and reported it to Google.

Google took down the spewers that I reported directly but left the network intact.  I have continued exploring it (although with better tools).

I analyzed 634 active spewers that had left 3 or more reviews each. Together these review spammers reviewed a total of 5048 businesses across 4 continents.

Here are the 25 specific Google categories with the highest amount of review spam:

	Primary Category
1	Mover
2	Dentist
3	HVAC Contractor
4	Internet Marketing Service
5	Pest Control Service
6	Insurance Agency
7	Taxi Service
8	Carpet Cleaning Service
9	Roofing Contractor
10	Garage Door Supplier
11	Moving and Storage Service
12	Plumber
13	Website Designer
14	Used Car Dealer
15	Dental Clinic
16	Water Damage Restoration Service
17	Limousine Service
18	Window Supplier
19	Locksmith
20	Real Estate Agency
21	Property Management Company
22	Personal Injury Attorney
23	House Cleaning Service
24	Chiropractor
25	Lawn Care Service

Movers, garage door openers & numerous home care services dominate the list. But there are a number of professionals including PI Lawyers, Insurance Agents, Real Estate and Dentists. I suppose it is no surprise to find Website Designers.

If you go through the complete list (available here) and aggregate dental and legal categories you will see that they are both in the top 5 although neither can hold a candle to the Moving industry.

As David Mihm noted, when looking at these categories, they primarily occur service related industries where review acquisition is not a “natural occurrence”. And that applies regardless of whether they are blue or white collar industries.

You do find a few restaurants and used car dealers but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. Although I suspect in both cases, the reason for buying reviews has more to do with covering up an already bad reputation.

The visibility of lawyers, dentists, chiropractors and insurance agencies, unreported as culprits in Google’s local spam study, validates my previous claim that Google is in many ways currently looking the other way when it comes to these professions.

What should you do if you are playing in these categories and want to play by the rules?

Run a great business and don’t forget to ask for reviews.

Please consider leaving a comment as your input will help me (& everyone else) better understand and learn about local.

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