online reviews
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Reviewer’s revenge
Legal expert Kathryn Clare looks at what action estate agents and letting agents can take when faced with unfair negative reviews online.
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Latest property news
Estate agency accused of paying for glowing Google reviews
Which? says London estate agency and over 40 other businesses all share the same positive reviewer, just one example of third parties gaming Google's review system.
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Latest property news
Trustpilot reveals how its ‘star rating’ system really works for agents
It has been revealed that estate agents who use Trustpilot to promote their businesses can ‘game’ the platform because the reviews company gives newer customer reviews greater weight when awarding an overall ‘out of five’ score. The policy has been revealed by the Advertising Standards Authority during its investigation into the new eMoov, which has been using links to its Trustpilot page to promote the business. Out of the 2,179 reviews on its Trustpilot page, only 80 have come from clients dealt with by the new incarnation of the online agent, while the rest were generated while it was operated by eMoov Ltd, which is currently in administration. The ASA has told a complainant about the use of old reviews that it has held ‘detailed talks’ with both Trustpilot and the agency. Aggregate score During these talks over the past six weeks, the ASA was told that the overall aggregate score award by Trustpilot was influenced unduly by the most recent reviews, rather than older ones. ”We are therefore satisfied that there is not a source of concern here at the moment and so we are not investigating this further,” the ASA has said. But the complainant, Andrew Stanton, has…
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Guest Blogs
50 proptech platforms
Nick Dunning Associates boosts its online presence with location marketing technology.
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Features
Policing property
Agents do suffer criticism and in some cases it may be justified. But the industry does self-police more effectively than some believe, as Joanne Christie found out.
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Features
Reviews – rave or grave?
With the rise of online agents, digital has become the marketing strategy of choice for most estate agents, says Nelly Berova, so just how important are your online reviews?
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Latest property news
TrustPilot changes its reviews policy following BBC investigation
A BBC Radio 5 live investigation into the way TrustPilot runs its online reviews system has forced the company to change its policy following problems with a Purplebricks customer.
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Latest property news
AllAgents asks reviewers to prove their posts are not ‘fake’
Glasgow-based reviews website allAgents has taken the “unprecedented step” of asking people posting on its site to prove they are genuine customers of an agent before their comments can go live. The site, which has been involved in a prolonged battle with Purplebricks over claims by the agent that some negative posts on allAgents are ‘fake’, says it has made the move “due to previous threats of legal action” by Purplebricks. “They are not fake, they are genuine customer concerns,” a statement released by allAgents over the weekend says. AllAgents claims it is now the only review site in the UK to ask customers for proof of this kind prior to posts going live. The announcement is the culmination of nearly six months of wrangling between the two firms after Purplebricks asked the site to take down the ‘fake’ negative reviews. The website declined to do so. In December talks between it and Purplebricks broke down after allAgents’ Director of Business Development said the hybrid agent’s “business ethics are not in line with our own”. one-star reviews Of the 11 reviews posted on the reviews website since the New Year, all bar one award Purplebricks one star out of five…
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