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Fake reviews of products and services are unfortunately nothing new, and some companies are actually profiting from the sale of bogus testimonials.

If you've ever searched the Internet for product reviews before making a purchase, you've surely seen them: glowing reviews, telling you how fantastic this audio system is or what a wonderful time was had staying at that hotel. Did it ever strike you as strange that sometimes there seem to be tens, maybe even hundreds, of reviews that don't have one bad word to say? It turns out those reviews that are so powerful in swaying your decision to buy or not to buy might actually be fake.

These days, almost any site that sells a product or service has a "reviews page" or a section dedicated to customer testimonials. Everyone from major store chains to online sites that allow you to compare airport parking offer up customer reviews with the intention of helping you decide on the best way to spend your hard-earned cash. But how to tell if the reviews you're looking at are actually genuine?When you're evaluating a website's reviews, there are two things to consider.

1. It's Not All Good News - Sure, when you see that a company has nothing but 5-star reviews, you get a good feeling about them.Keep in mind, however, that no matter how good a service or product is, there will always be issues that arise and cause customer dissatisfaction. If there are absolutely NO negative reviews, chances are that they're being suppressed.

2. Who's Doing The Reviewing? - Be wary of sites that allow just anyone to submit a review.Some sites offer an online form where anybody, regardless of whether they're an actual customer or not, can give a few bits of information and then say what they like.You'll find the most reliable reviews on websites that only offer the opportunity of writing a review to people who have really used the service or product, usually via a link that is sent directly to the customer.

One type of site that seems particularly vulnerable to fake reviews is the travel comparison website. In an age where you can do almost anything online: compare car hire companies, purchase budget airline tickets, book a boat trip up the Nile or even just compare airport hotels, the possibility of coming across bogus testimonials is increasingly prevalent. One site that has experienced some trouble with fake reviews, and consequently with some negative customer perception of their services, is TripAdvisor. Companies were promising hotel owners that they would post positive reviews of their businesses on high-profile sites (like TripAdvisor) in return for a monthly fee. There's even the tale of one hotel that received several reviews before even opening to the public! TripAdvisor, to their credit, have many checks in place, along with human moderators, that police the reviews submitted to them and either remove anything questionable or place a warning on any set of reviews that are deemed possible fakes.

Even with the best of intentions though, the reality is that some fake reviews will slip through the cracks.If, however, you learn to spot the signs mentioned above, plus apply some old-fashioned common sense, you'll be able to avoid them.