Imagine you’ve just written a review. Have you ever wondered what happens to it after you’ve hit the submit button? You might be surprised at what we do with the thousands of reviews we receive every day. From a sophisticated content algorithm to a dedicated Moderation Team, there’s plenty that goes on in the background to ensure that when you’re reading opinions on a product or service on our platform, you can have trust and confidence in them.
Content Algorithm
There’s so much behind a review than just words — and that’s why we have a sophisticated content algorithm. With over 3 million reviews, we’ve learnt what makes a good review, and what doesn’t — and we use that to our advantage with our proprietary content algorithm, sifting out questionable reviews, while expediting helpful ones.
We do this by analysing and monitoring hundreds of data points about reviews, products, brands, and members on ProductReview, where it is then attributed to whether this data point gravitates towards a review that is genuine and helpful, as opposed to a suspicious review.
Every single review we receive passes through this algorithm, where it is assigned a trust factor. We use this factor to either expedite your review approval, or to pass it to our Moderation Team to take a further look. This is why some reviews may be published in a short amount of time, while other reviews may take a couple of days to receive approval.
Since launching our platform in 2003, we have been constantly improving and refining our content algorithm to ensure that the reviews that you see are reviews that you can trust.
Moderation Team
You might think that, with as many reviews that we receive, that might be no human intervention before a review is published.
We have a dedicated Moderation Team, who work every single day to ensure that the reviews you depend on meet our Posting Guidelines. Our team not only personally check reviews that our algorithm flags as suspicious, but they also continually check and review existing reviews on our platform to ensure content is helpful, current, and constructive.
Our aim is to publish as many helpful and genuine reviews as possible — we want to make your voice count and be heard, while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the platform millions rely on every day.
Report System
Even with an industry-leading content algorithm & talented Moderation Team, a minority of reviews do slip through the cracks. But that doesn’t mean they’re not caught — thanks in part to you, the community. If you have a concern with any review, question, or comment on the platform, click the Report button. Every single report will be taken seriously to ensure that all reviews are genuine and meet our Posting Guidelines.
What do we do with suspicious reviews?
We absolutely hate “fake" reviews — and we see a handful come through our platform each day. Lucky for us, the majority of these reviews are immediately detected by our algorithm and our Moderation Team way before it would be published.
That said, we don’t like brands or individuals who try to “game the system”. We have a library of suspicious review patterns that we utilise to know when a business is posting fake reviews. What we do thereafter is dependent on what’s happened — in most cases, we ensure only genuine reviews remain, and we place a large informational warning on top of listing pages where suspicious activity has been found to occur. In more serious cases, we have referred fake reviews to the ACCC, who have prosecuted offending businesses.
We never allow companies to post fake positive reviews, and we penalise companies that we believe are trying to manipulate our platform. If you’re concerned that a bunch of reviews are fake, please read our handy tips in Misconceptions Debunked, and feel free to learn more about our Operating Model.
What about Proof of Purchases? Why do you need them?
ProductReview.com.au is one of the first review platforms that started asking for a Proof of Purchase documents in review submissions. We set it as required field for certain categories such as Home Builders and Removalists, but it's still optional for majority of listings. We may also set it as a required field for some individual listings.
Reviews with a checked Proof of Purchase document get a Verified label to identify them, and you can also filter by them on our listing pages.
We never let brands or businesses have access to your Proof of Purchase document, nor do we reveal any information about it, unless required by a court of law. We would never distribute or sell your Proof of Purchase, nor your personal information. If you’re concerned about your privacy, you’re even welcome to white out any sensitive information, before you submit your Proof of Purchase to us.
For more information about Proof of Purchases, please read our Help Centre article.