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NY AG Seeks To Delete Fake Online Reviews

New York's attorney general is trying to dismantle what he calls a system of creating false online review for products and services.

On Monday, Eric Schneiderman settled cases with 19 companies that included $350,000 in penalties after a yearlong investigation into the fake plaudits sometimes called "astroturfing." The term is based on the synthetic grass used on sports fields.    Schneiderman says he found companies that filed false reviews on Yelp, Google Local, CitySearch and other websites.

Many were written by people in Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe for $1 to $10 per review.

One undercover agent was able to hire a company to create a false positive impression of a fictitious company.

(c) 2013 The Associated Press

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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