Details
- Vector type:
- Review System Attack
- Risk level:
- Low
- Impact level:
- Low to Moderate
This approach works in tandem with “Good Fake Reviews,” which entails building large numbers of obviously exaggerated fake reviews for your target. Once you’ve done that, you mass-report your victim for manipulative practices, in an effort to have their business listing penalized or excluded outright from the consumer review system. Again, this is harder to achieve in the Google My Business ecosystem than with third-party review sites, because of Google’s approach to mass-flagging/reporting.
Defense
As with all Review System Attacks, there is no actual defense against this tactic, since you’re solely reliant on Google My Business and the other review site operators to detect and eliminate malicious reviews and behavior.