Google is no longer the simple, clean, useful and helpful search engine it once was. It's now complex, comprehensively ad-cluttered and almost completely impossible to understand. And with each new 'enrichment' that comes along, it gets worse.
Not that any of this means curtains for the world's top search engine – at least not for the time being. But what we can be sure of is that something even as seemingly infallible as Google is vulnerable to the winds of change – especially where the needs and expectations of younger web users are concerned.
After what at least feels like an eternity of wondering why it hadn’t already happened, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finally clamped down on false feedback. Specifically, new rules are set to be introduced later this year that will make fake customer reviews and testimonials illegal.
This includes (but isn’t limited to) common practices such as:
· Buying Reviews – Something most self-respecting businesses wouldn’t even consider, but research suggests is beyond rife.
· Misrepresenting Company-Controlled Review Websites as Independent – An all-too common practice that misleads people into buying into highly biased, one-sided and ultimately false information.
· Fake Indicators of Social Media Influence – This includes the sale, purchase or distribution of anything that could mislead the public as to your status on social media.
According to the FTC, civil penalties will be imposed against any violators found to be in breach of any of the above.
But given the potential scope of the issue as it exists today, it seems almost impossible that each and every brand that’s bought into practices like this to date will have implemented policies to ensure compliance in a matter of weeks.
What Does ‘Fake Indicators of Social Media Influence’ Mean?
This is perhaps going to be the most challenging issue to police properly. Why paying for positive reviews is fairly commonplace, the number of social media accounts using artificial inflation to boost their profiles is incalculable.
From the smallest brands to the biggest businesses to influencers and even politicians, it’s no secret that much (if not most) of their influence is often attributed to bots.
And it’s not difficult to understand why. Key in a quick online search and you’ll be returned with hundreds (if not thousands) of sketchy sellers from around the world, selling everything from Facebook followers to TikTok views to custom-written reviews.
According to the FTC, the official rules will apply to “any metrics used by the public to make assessments of an individual’s or entity’s social media influence, such as followers, friends, connections, subscribers, views, plays, likes, reposts and comments” which are not genuine reflections of the opinions and experiences of real people.
Influencers Under Increased Scrutiny
All of which represents yet another attempt to crack down on fake engagement and artificial inflation of key social media metrics. The message for brands and businesses being clear – don’t attempt to illegally ‘buy’ your way to social media fame and fortune.
But it’s not quite as simple as this – at least not for brands that work closely with high-profile influencers. As a general rule of thumb, the larger an influencer’s audience, the higher the likelihood a proportion (potentially large) of their follower-base is comprised of bots. And by associating yourself with them (and perhaps having their followers directly or indirectly endorse you), any dubious dealings on their behalf could reflect badly on you.
For the time being, no such rules or regulations exist in most other major markets – shy of the policies of the platform's themselves. Either way, it should be seen as an important wake-up call for any businesses still relying on purchased social proof.
You might be getting away with it for now, but you’ll eventually find yourself in the regulatory crosshairs.
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