Generating bad reviews about webshops' customer service was seen as a genuine search engine optimization strategy. This is not surprising when you consider that, thanks to this criticism, webshops rose sharply in Google's search results, causing revenue to increase along with them.
An example of someone who used this 'strategy' is Vitaly Borker, the owner of the online store Decomyeyes.com. Since he started generating negative feedback, his site had risen from 35th to 1st place in Google for important keywords. He even went so far as to call dissatisfied customers and give them a dressing-down in the hope that those customers would then go online to complain and post a link to his website. Not only did he get many more visitors to his site, but he also saw his revenue increase significantly.
After Google was informed of Vitaly Borker's practices, Google took action. Google immediately drastically adjusted the search algorithm to combat this form of Search Engine Optimization. Webshops that receive negative criticism risk penalties or even a ban from Google. Consequently, webshops with poor customer service end up in a lower position in the search results. This hits webshops hard, as they receive a very large portion of their traffic from Google.
However, penalizing webshops is a tricky task for Google, as they have to do it manually. They have compiled a list of webshops that, in their view, provide poor service. These subsequently receive a lower position in Google's search results.