What is Review Bombing?

Review bombing has become a significant issue for online platforms, affecting the credibility and reliability of user-generated content. 

It is a malicious phenomenon where a large group of people, often coordinated, flood a product or service with negative reviews. The tactic is typically used to influence public perception, or sabotage the success of the target.

Do you rely on online reviews before making a purchase? If so, you're part of a vast majority. According to recent statistics, 81% of consumers use Google to read reviews and evaluate local businesses, and 91% typically read at least one review before purchasing a product. And with 94% of consumers saying that a negative review has caused them to avoid a business​, the impact of review bombing can be profound, influencing not only the perception of individual products but also the overall trust in a platform's review system.

Notorious Examples of Review Bombing

1. The Last of Us Part II: The game faced massive review bombing on Metacritic due to controversial plot elements, leading to a wide disparity between critic and user scores.
2. Captain Marvel: Targeted on Rotten Tomatoes before its release, the film received thousands of negative reviews based on its marketing and political undertones rather than its actual content.
3. Rings of Power: Amazon’s series was bombarded with negative reviews over its diverse casting choices, causing Amazon to temporarily suspend user reviews to control the situation.
4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Fans unhappy with the film’s direction and character arcs orchestrated a review bombing campaign, significantly lowering its audience score on various platforms.
5. Ghostbusters (2016): The reboot of the classic film faced intense review bombing on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, largely due to backlash against its all-female cast and perceived political messaging, which overshadowed the actual content of the film.

Why Should Online Platforms Care?

Review bombing can damage a platform’s reputation and the trustworthiness of its reviews. When potential customers encounter a slew of negative reviews, they may be deterred from purchasing or engaging with the product, even if those reviews are not representative of actual user experiences. For online marketplaces and review aggregators, this can lead to decreased traffic, lower sales, and a tarnished reputation. For businesses, especially smaller ones that rely heavily on online reviews, this can result in significant financial losses if their sales plummet due to a coordinated attack. 

Additionally, review bombing often targets content associated with progressive themes or underrepresented groups, which can perpetuate biases and limit the diversity of voices and stories in media. This not only affects the targeted content but also discourages creators from producing diverse and inclusive works.

Real-World Impact of Review Bombing

Goodreads is an example of how review bombing can damage a platform's reputation, with notable incidents involving authors like Cait Corrain and Elizabeth Gilbert. Corrain's career crumbled after she was caught writing fake reviews to praise her own book and disparage others, leading to her publisher canceling her debut novel. Gilbert withdrew a novel due to a flood of one-star reviews based on mistaken assumptions about its content. These controversies reveal how Goodreads' lax verification processes enabled coordinated negative reviews. The prevalence of fake reviews not only distorts book ratings but also erodes trust in Goodreads as a reliable source for book recommendations. 

Platforms like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic have implemented measures to counteract review bombing, such as delaying user reviews or verifying that reviewers have actually experienced the content. However, these measures are not foolproof and often require significant manual oversight.

How Pasabi Detects Review Bombing

At Pasabi, we use advanced AI and behavioral analytics to detect fake reviews:

1. Review Patterns: We identify unusual patterns in the frequency and timing of reviews. For instance, sudden spikes in review activity often indicate coordinated review bombing efforts.
2. Connected Accounts: Our technology detects groups of accounts working together to manipulate ratings. This includes identifying clusters of users posting similar reviews across different platforms.
3. Behavioral Footprints: We analyze metadata such as the origin of reviews, devices used, and other digital signals. This helps in spotting fake reviews that are not genuine user feedback.

By continually monitoring both the content and the context - who is writing, from where, how often, and their connections - Pasabi provides a comprehensive view of review authenticity. Our solution doesn't just catch lone fake reviews; it uncovers entire networks of review fraud, enhancing the reliability of your platform.

Ready to safeguard your platform against fake reviews and review bombing? Contact Pasabi today.