A fake iTunes review company in the US got a big slap on the wrist today for accepting payments for writing fake iTunes store reviews.
Under the settlement, the California firm, Reverb Communications, and one of its executives, Tracie Snitker, agreed to remove all of the iTunes reviews that appeared to be written by ordinary people. The settlement also bars Reverb and Ms. Snitker from making similar endorsements of any product or service without disclosing any relevant connections. The settlement did not involve any monetary penalties.
Yeah, I’m sure that won’t happen again. Even if companies were scared to do this sort of thing, what’s to stop companies from outsorcing this type of behavior overseas where this isn’t illegal? The big fines? That’s why Apple makes you buy a product before reviewing it (image above).
The charges stem from a new law passed last year..
The charges were the first to be brought under a new set of guidelines for Internet endorsements that the agency unveiled last year. The guidelines were often described as rules for bloggers, but they also covered anyone writing reviews on Web sites or promoting products via Facebook or Twitter, and they were meant to impose on the Internet the same kind of truth-in-advertising principles that have long existed offline.
By the way, have you shopped in our totally kickback-ified Amazon store lately?
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