Paid Google Reviews: Restaurant Owners, “Collateral Victims” of Job-Based Scams

Five stars pouring in. In one day, despite the usual high attendance, positive reviews flooded into Matthieu's establishment's Google page (1) a few weeks ago. " We went from five or six reviews per day to ten or twelve overnight," says the Parisian restaurateur. The pleasant surprise didn't last. The thirty-year-old quickly noticed that, unusually, many reviews were left without commentary, with just stars.

Before discovering two negative reviews, which startle him: disgruntled internet users explain that they were encouraged, on social media, to leave a positive review of his restaurant, in exchange for payment. And accuse the owner of trying to manipulate his rating. Matthieu is flabbergasted. He, who is particularly attentive to the comments left about his establishment, has never tried to artificially inflate his online visibility.

Matthieu's case is not isolated. The phenomenon is "clearly identified" by the French Hotel and Restaurant Association (GHR), for whom restaurant and hotel professionals are the "collateral victims" of these practices that are proliferating online. The principle is simple: the targeted person, an ordinary internet user, is contacted by phone (often via international numbers), SMS, WhatsApp, or social media. They are offered payment to perform simple tasks in