Report: 15 Percent Of Social Media Ratings, Reviews, Facebook Likes May Be Fake By 2014

As more consumers rely on social networks for recommendations and reviews, more and more of that content, including likes on Facebook, is being paid for by brands, with a report from research firm Gartner projecting that 10 percent to 15 percent of social media ratings and reviews will be fake by 2014, going as far as to predict that the Federal Trade Commission will bring litigation against at least two Fortune 500 companies for such conduct over the next two years.

As more consumers rely on social networks for recommendations and reviews, more and more of that content, including likes on Facebook, is being paid for by brands, with a report from research firm Gartner projecting that 10 percent to 15 percent of social media ratings and reviews will be fake by 2014, going as far as to predict that the Federal Trade Commission will bring litigation against at least two Fortune 500 companies for such conduct over the next two years.

According to Gartner, the FTC ruled in 2009 that paying for positive reviews without disclosing that payment qualifies as deceptive advertising.

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