Reputation Management and the Fraudulent Manipulation of Consumer Review Websites

Businesses are increasingly reliant on consumer-review websites, such as TripAdvisor and Yelp, and user-generated content can have a devastating impact on reputation. In response to critical consumer reviews, and in defiance of the codes of conduct of consumer-review sites, some businesses resort to covert public relations operations or “reputation management”, hiring freelance writers to disseminate fake reviews. It is debatable whether these operations are protected by the First Amendment, or whether they are subject to criminal proceedings under consumer protection and anti-fraud legislation. This study focuses on the sanctions adopted by the New York State Attorney General Schneiderman against companies disseminating fake reviews, including penalties and the requirement to sign an Assurance of Discontinuance. A genre theory perspective is adopted to examine the issues arising out of this case, identifying elements of interdiscursivity in the Schneiderman press release.