Fake TripAdvisor notice landed an Italian in prison

(CBS News) – A man in Italy has been imprisoned and fined for trying to sell his good opinion.

The man, whose crime was selling false reviews on TripAdvisor, will be fined 8,000 euros (about $ 9,300) and will be jailed for nine months, the company said.

This is the first time a person has been sent to jail for false reviews, said TripAdvisor. The company, which was a civil party to the case, called the decision a "landmark decision for the Internet".

The man, who was not appointed, ran a company called PromoSalento in the city of Lecce, at the southern tip of Italy. PromoSalento has announced fake reviews packages to local businesses. TripAdvisor first spotted the company in 2015, said the company in a blog post, then identified and blocked more than a thousand attempts to submit comments on the TripAdvisor website. Companies that have paid for false reviews have been penalized by lowering their popularity rankings, the company said.

The court of Lecce considered that the writing of false criticisms under an alleged identity was a crime under Italian law.

A 2005 European law also prohibits falsely representing oneself as a consumer.

Online assessments can make or break a business, especially for more expensive purchases. Not surprisingly, there is dynamic commerce in improving online rankings and companies can go a long way in influencing their online reputations, including fines for negative reviews. (The US Congress decided last year that it was illegal to ban honest reviews.)

According to a study by the European Parliament, up to 16% of online reviews are fake. The main consumer websites, including Amazon, also suffer from a large number of "unnatural" reviews.

Although consumers often do not know if online reviews are accurate, we also place great trust in them. According to a Pew study, many Americans believe that online reviews are more effective than government control over consumer safety and portfolio companies.