Amazon and Google File Dual Lawsuits Against Fake Review Site

Amazon and Google are taking action against a website that generates fake product/business reviews.

The two tech giants have filed parallel lawsuits against Bigboostup.com, accusing it of selling phony product and business reviews to scammers to list on Amazon’s stores and on Google Search and Google Maps, Amazon announced Monday (Oct. 28).

“Consumers heavily rely on product reviews when making purchasing decisions and incentivized reviews mislead customers into believing they are from unbiased and independent customers,” Amazon said in a news release.

“The private sector, consumer groups, and governments need to team up to send a clear message that this is unacceptable and work to stop fake reviews for good. Amazon and Google’s efforts help demonstrate the power of industry collaboration around fake reviews.”

The Bigboostup website appeared to be down Monday afternoon. Representatives from the company could not be reached for comment.

Amazon filed its suit against the website in the Western District of Washington, while Google’s complaint was filed in the Northern District of California.

Earlier this month, Amazon said it was using legal action and other methods to combat fake reviews and keep them from being viewed by customers. The eCommerce giant said it blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviews last year, while also pursuing legal action against more than 150 fake review brokers.

The company said Monday it employs “industry-leading tools that use machine-learning models to analyze reviews for fraudulent patterns and suspicious activity prior to publication.”

Amazon filed its first suit against fake review brokers in 2015, and recently joined with the Better Business Bureau in action against these organizations.

“At Amazon, we understand that businesses of all sizes rely on product reviews to attract customers and grow their brand,” Claire O’Donnell, director of selling partner trust and store integrity at Amazon, said in a news release earlier this month.

“In addition to our proactive controls, legal actions ensure that we hold these bad actors accountable, stop their illicit schemes at the source, and prevent them from harming customers in Amazon’s store and beyond.”

Amazon and Google aren’t the only companies fighting back against fake reviews. Yelp won a court victory in June when a judge ruled the company could continue a trademark infringement and unfair competition lawsuit against a company that claimed it could remove “bad” reviews from the platform.