Can You Trust User Reivews?

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- No matter what she buys, even a step stool, Karen Schmidt looks online first to see what other people recommend.

"I bought this pot rack online that I checked the reviews. I bought my daughter's cell phone online that I checked out the reviews," she says.

But Consumer Reports ShopSmart cautions not all user reviews are objective and independent.

"Believe it or not, many of these reviews are written by employees who are posing as satisfied customers," says Lisa Lee Freeman.

Lifestyle Lift, a chain of cosmetic surgery clinics, was fined $300,000 because its employees published positive reviews and engaged in deceptive commercial practices.

Lisa says, "Bloggers are another source of suspect reviews.  they may be getting freebies or payments from companies to say positive things about their products."

Take the Web site izea.com.  The site brags it's gotten a million product mentions online with paid bloggers.

Some warning signs of suspect reviews.  There's no mention of personal experience with the item.  And, the reviewer lists only the pros and none of the cons.

Also, be on the lookout for sponsorship disclosures.  But they can be hard to spot.

Another tip, don't stop at the first two or three reviews.  At least one site, yelp.com, says it moves a positive review to the top spot if the business pays for it.

Bottom line, be skeptical, before you buy, check lots of sources.

The Federal Trade Commission has been so concerned about what amounts to paid advertising masquerading as user reviews and blogs online that it recently released new guidelines requiring paid reviews to be clearly identified.