Reviews People Online Companies Buy Making Place Post

As "consumers" (people who buy things) become "increasingly" (more and more) dependent on online reviews when making their "purchasing decisions" (decisions about what to buy), many companies feel pressured to improve their online reviews. Some companies do this in honest ways, such as asking satisfied customers to place reviews on popular websites, sometimes offering "discounts" (lower prices) to people who do so. But other businesses "turn to" (decide to have or use) dishonest methods.

For example, some companies "secure" (get) "paid reviews," paying people money so that they will write and "post" (put on a website) "favorable" (positive; saying good things about someone or something) reviews.

Other people and companies post multiple reviews for their own benefit. For example, authors and "publishing houses" (companies that produce books) have been known to use Amazon.com to post multiple reviews of their own books, encouraging others to buy them. Others "take this to another level" (do something in a more extreme way), posting negative reviews of competitors' products to discourage consumers from purchasing those goods.

In response, some websites allow people to place reviews only if they have purchased the product through that site, or booked a hotel through the travel website. Other websites address the problem by having "moderators" whose job is to "review" (read and evaluate) other reviews, making sure that they are acceptable before they are "made public" (presented for everyone to read). However, this raises concern about "censorship" (controlling what people may and not read) and "infringements" (violations) of people's "right to free speech" (legally protected ability to say what one wants, regardless of whether other people agree with it).