{"id":657045,"date":"2026-08-26T07:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T07:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/657045\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T07:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T07:51:12","slug":"we-can-get-rid-of-them-for-e3000-how-small-businesses-are-being-targeted-by-fake-reviews-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/657045\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We can get rid of them for \u20ac3,000\u2019: How small businesses are being targeted by fake reviews \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bad customer reviews can have a big impact on small companies, says Pierce Murray, who runs the Dublin-based removals service QuickVan. This can be to the advantage of consumers but it can also leave companies exposed to unfair criticism or even extortion.<\/p>\n

Murray says his business has been targeted by several fake reviews, some of which are clearly designed to extract money from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll say things like: \u2018I spoke to him over the phone and he was very rude to me \u2013 one star review.\u2019 It\u2019s very hard to say to Google that that call didn\u2019t take place. In one case, I got a WhatsApp message from a lad in India or Pakistan who had a screenshot of a review and said he could remove it for \u20ac100.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray says scammers are \u201cvery smart at what they do\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cReviews are a big part of our industry. Word of mouth would have a big, big effect. These reviews are quite vicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PiercePierce Murray at work with his QuickVan service <\/p>\n

Online reviews can determine whether a business thrives or dives, according to digital marketing expert Cian Murphy.<\/p>\n

Google, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot, Yelp and Amazon all host reviews under business profiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have a waiter or a waitress who\u2019s having a bad day and the restaurant gets a bad review,\u201d says Murphy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a big deal \u2013 generally the positive reviews will overtake that one bad review. But we had a case where a wedding photographer, an excellent guy whose reviews were all fantastic, got one negative review because he forgot to log a booking. That one negative review was all it took for brides to look elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Looking to move abroad? Here\u2019s what you need to knowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Rating systems are in place to help prospective clients and shoppers make quick, informed decisions on whether to trust a business or a service. <\/p>\n

In the case of Murphy\u2019s wedding photographer, he received a negative review due to an unfortunate slip-up on his part. It was a genuine review.<\/p>\n

But the power of the review means that bad actors and malicious competitors can just as easily pose as legitimate customers and cause significant damage.<\/p>\n

Headlines were grabbed in July by the case<\/a> of a Kerry-based physiotherapist and his former client. Edmond O\u2019Grady, from Tralee, admitted to a professional conduct committee that he had left a one-star Google review of a client\u2019s business \u2013 after telling a previous committee he would not do so.<\/p>\n

\"EddieEddie O’Grady admitted a breach of a previous undertaking given to a previous inquiry. Photograph: Colin Keegan\/Collins <\/p>\n

Donal O\u2019Reilly, of Bannside Osteopathy, Banbridge, Co Down, had originally given an unfavourable review regarding an appointment he had with O\u2019Grady in 2023.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Grady retaliated by leaving the first one-star review of Bannside Osteopathy. At an original hearing, O\u2019Grady committed to not doing so again \u2013 but went on to leave another similarly bad review last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was foolish, a moment of frustration … I need to move on from that,\u201d O\u2019Grady told the committee second time around.<\/p>\n

It raises the question of whether online reviews have any merit at all. After all, friends and family can leave favourable reviews of businesses that have nothing to with their level of competency or service, while competitors can leave bitter, misleading words. <\/p>\n

According to Murphy, this is a moot point. There is simply no getting around online reviews and it is critical for businesses big and small that they maintain a good reputation online.<\/p>\n

Many Irish businesses have used search engine optimisation (SEO) firms to ensure their profiles rank as highly as possible on the likes of Google. This comes with risks attached, says Murphy.<\/p>\n

He points to one friend in Cork who used a foreign SEO agency, which was offering cheaper rates, to boost his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stopped using the company because he wasn\u2019t seeing results and once he did that he got 10 negative reviews within the space of an hour,\u201d says the digital marketer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was then contacted by the same agency to say we can get rid of the bad reviews for \u20ac3,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s advice was not to pay the agency as it would probably happen again.<\/p>\n

Back at QuickVan, Murray says he considered paying the scammers who targeted his company to have a bad review removed. But he decided against it for fear that it would be repeated. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been stuck with a couple of them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Google, and other search engines, have processes for dealing with malicious or spam reviews. In the case above, Google removed all the negative reviews once they were reported. This can be a lengthy process, however. <\/p>\n

The tech giant notes that it \u201cdoesn\u2019t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers\u201d and that negative reviews can \u201chighlight areas for improvement\u201d. Proving that a review is not genuine can be a difficult endeavour.<\/p>\n

This is not just of concern to the businesses involved. Consumers can also be left wondering whether reviews are to be trusted.<\/p>\n

Under current legislation, businesses are prohibited from posting fake reviews or paying others for this sort of promotion. <\/p>\n

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says businesses are required to take \u201creasonable steps\u201d to verify reviews before promoting them as being genuine.<\/p>\n

In its advice to consumers, the commission says good or bad reviews should not be taken simply at face-value and that further research should be carried out. <\/p>\n

\u201cLook for patterns that don\u2019t feel right, such as lots of five-star ratings with no detail, reviewers who have only ever posted one review, or feedback that sounds generic or overly positive,\u201d says a CCPC spokesperson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something feels off, take it as a warning sign and look for more evidence before trusting the trader. Don\u2019t just go by the reviews on the website itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Scammers cost Irish adults \u20ac760m last year – surveyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

At the same time, this model of reviewing and ranking is changing with the advent of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

The increased use of AI modes in search engines means the presentation of results has altered significantly. Previously, a search request for a nearby business or service would throw up links to various websites or Google business profiles.<\/p>\n

Similar to what happened with links to news articles, however, the user now sees an AI-generated summary at the top of the page. The AI mode will have gone to the bother of assessing reviews and ratings and summarising a small number of what it believes are the most appropriate matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way they will get mentioned in AI mode is if they are reputable companies which have favourable reviews,\u201d says Murphy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AI mode is trying to pick the businesses with the best reviews possible. They don\u2019t want to put someone up there with one star.\u201d<\/p>\n

If AI searches are now excluding businesses that don\u2019t meet exacting criteria \u2013 or the requirements of a particular algorithm \u2013 that creates the risk that many could effectively disappear from view online.<\/p>\n

Lest they be forgotten, the old-fashioned internet forums are still a place where consumers, well-intentioned or otherwise, can share views on their experiences.<\/p>\n

Daniel Yeromka runs the server provider business HostZealot. He says the company struggled with online commentary last year after a fake review was published on a forum by a customer HostZealot had removed from its platform. He says the customer was removed after complaints about phishing from a third party.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin 24 hours of shutting down the server, negative reviews about HostZealot started appearing in forums where people compare hosting providers,\u201d says Yeromka. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reviews didn\u2019t mention phishing or abuse complaints. In fact, they painted a different story \u2013 that we had stolen a server from a paying customer without warning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeromka says it was difficult to rebut the fake review without revealing confidential information. The company eventually published a post about its processes for removing customers who breach the rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fake reviews finally faded into the background,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the fact that we got to explain how we handle abuse cases, it was a win in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bad customer reviews can have a big impact on small companies, says Pierce Murray, who runs the Dublin-based…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,1463,289,290,7771,18,823,19,17,82],"class_list":["post-657045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-amazon","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-competition-and-consumer-protection-commission-ccpc","tag-eire","tag-google","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}