{"id":28300,"date":"2022-07-20T11:47:52","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T16:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.powerreviews.com\/?page_id=28300"},"modified":"2023-05-19T15:27:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T20:27:35","slug":"review-verification","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.powerreviews.com\/review-verification\/","title":{"rendered":"Review Verification"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last Updated August 1, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PowerReviews has always placed significant emphasis on ensuring reviews published using our technology are authentic and presented in a way that accurately demonstrates their value to a potential online purchase decision. This article explains several features available on the PowerReviews platform that will assist you with verifying whether a reviewer actually purchased the service or product, and\/or disclosing whether a reviewer was incentivized to provide a review.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that PowerReviews offers the below insights for informational purposes only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU Omnibus Directive<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The EU Omnibus Directive, also known as the Enforcement and Modernization Directive 2019\/2161 (the \u201cDirective\u201d), came into effect in January 2020.  However, EU member states had until May 28, 2022, to bring the Directive into action, and therefore companies had until May 28, 2022 to bring their covered marketing activities into compliance.  The goal of the Directive is to provide enhanced consumer protections when making online purchases, such identifying the review as submitted by a verified purchaser and shielding consumers from misleading and fake reviews posted on ecommerce sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product Review Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With transparency to consumers being a key mandate of the Directive, Business to Consumer (B2C) companies will need to verify that the product reviews posted on their eCommerce website are genuine reviews submitted by consumers that have purchased or used their product. B2C companies may also be required to provide the details of their verification process to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a ratings and reviews SaaS service provider, PowerReviews assists our clients in collecting reviews in the following ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. We solicit reviews from consumers after they have purchased a product from our clients\u2019 website by sending a post-purchase email (or SMS) that is based on transaction data from our clients.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. We collect reviews from consumers that visit your website and use the \u201cWrite A Review\u201d option on a product display page (PDP).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    For more information on how PowerReviews collects product reviews from consumers, see our Review Collection Documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Collecting Product Reviews from Consumers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Based on transaction data provided by a client, our clients can send post-purchase emails to consumers requesting that they leave a rating and review for the product\/service recently purchased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Post-purchase emails can be sent to consumers following a purchase made either online or in-store.  The email links the consumer to the Write A Review form<\/a> which includes a parameter that informs PowerReviews that the review is being written by a consumer that actually purchased the item. This review will be badged as submitted by a \u201cVerified Buyer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In addition to the post-purchase solicitation process, consumers may submit a review when visiting our clients\u2019 eCommerce sites by clicking on the Write A Review button.  Reviews submitted through this process are organically collected, however, the review may or may not be written by a consumer that actually purchased or used the product. Since PowerReviews is unable to authenticate the exact nature of this consumer\u2019s experience with the product, we will not identify and badge this review as a \u201cVerified Buyer\u201d review (more on badges below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Verifying Review Authenticity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    PowerReviews takes the authenticity of review content extremely seriously.  As consumers ourselves who rely on reviews and other user-generated content to inform purchase decisions, the belief that shoppers should be able to trust the reviews they read online is a fundamental principle of PowerReviews\u2019 business philosophy. While ultimately, it\u2019s the responsibility of the B2C business to verify the authenticity and validity of any content published on its own website, the PowerReviews\u2019 services include several tools and safeguards to assist our clients in this process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fraud Detection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    IP Address Monitoring<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    We recommend \u2013 as part of our best practice implementation \u2013 that any client who uses our services, allow PowerReviews to view any user\u2019s IP address who submits a review.   When a client sends a user\u2019s IP address as part of the review, PowerReviews will be able to monitor IP address activity to flag and\/or block any IPs that have any history of providing fraudulent or illegitimate reviews or other user-generated content across any company using our platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mass advertising, trolling, and attempts at automated content submission are all sources of inauthentic content. PowerReviews also offers tools that help flag and block reviews deemed inauthentic by leveraging a JavaScript-based device reputation technology.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Duplicate Review Check<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    PowerReviews has a best-in-class moderation process to verify the relevancy, appropriateness, and authenticity of each review for our clients.\u00a0 As a part of this verification process, duplicate reviews are also identified and unpublished from consumer view. For more information on the PowerReviews moderation process see our Moderation Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tracking Review Source<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    In addition to monitoring reviews for fraudulent behavior, PowerReviews also provides our clients with the tools to track the source of any specific review, without identifying the specific consumer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With proper configuration, PowerReviews clients are able to accurately identify reviews that have been submitted by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n