Guilty pleasure? no…;-) One of my favorite newsletters is https://www.economie.gouv.fr/! Yes, you read that right. Concise, key figures, 4 articles or studies highlighted, all contextualized according to current events or seasonality for businesses and entrepreneurs. Concrete information every week. P.A.R.F.A.I.T! So 2 articles have caught my attention in recent weeks, one on online reviews and the other on E-reputation, and so I had to share my expert point of view.
Summary and contents of the page
Can we trust online reviews?
https://www.economie.gouv.fr/particuliers/faux-avis-consommateurs-sur-internet
In this article, all the rules and laws concerning online reviews are recalled… and some of them seemed to me to be completely out of touch with reality and especially with the AFNOR standard.
Here are a few examples:
“Traders must specify certain information”: That’s not all traders have to do… paying their charges, employees, taxes and trying to earn something afterwards is already a good priority…;-)
“the date of publication of each review as well as the date of the consumer experience concerned by the review”: so you need to display 2 dates per review… pffffff
“review ranking criteria”: be transparent about which reviews are displayed and how…. ok…
“if there is a consideration provided in exchange for the submission of a review”: well, this is forbidden, at afnor, google, trustpilot etc., but according to the state, it’s allowed if it’s indicated. What I find a little hard here is when I think of the paid panel for food products “elected product of the year” it’s nowhere mentioned that the panel was paid. Seems like a double standard.
We’ll also note that now the notion of customer reviews on a website must be a clear element present in a site’s legal disclaimer. A bit like the RGPD to define retention, modification etc…. But what about when the site displays or encapsulates Google reviews… so the rules are with google not the merchant. Again, a bit far from reality.
Companies: how to monitor your e-reputation?
https://www.economie.gouv.fr/entreprises/entreprises-surveillez-votre-e-reputation?
I’ve made it a section and a series of dedicated services on the site, and it’s interesting to see the scope it’s taking on, even for a retailer. On a daily basis, I see several types of profiles from SMEs and entrepreneurs on this subject:
- I’ve understood what it’s all about and I’m working to enhance the value of my company, my work, my products and my employees.
- I understand what it is, but I don’t have the time (or don’t want to take the time) to do it.
- I’m worried because if I go, I’ll have to deal with negative comments (the power of the customer’s word).
- I had a wave of false comments so since then I’ve been careful and I watch out for that.
“No one is supposed to ignore the law”.
Whether you are sensitive or not in the approach (it is often the extroverts who assume their online image and therefore e-reputation) you must know the rights and possible steps in case of problems. I have written several articles on the subject. In this article from the https://www.economie.gouv.fr/ website, what I find “off the ground” is asking for RGPD data to be deleted in the event that “comments about your company are false and defamatory?” hummm well good luck asking for a Google review to be deleted with that …;-)
