Google "looking into" potentially fake reviews

Opening day for the highly-anticipated Resorts World Las Vegas is set for this Thursday. Even though the doors haven’t opened yet, dozens of people are already sharing their thoughts in online reviews.

Resorts World Las Vegas receiving dozens of online reviews before opening to public

Resorts World Las Vegas receiving dozens of online reviews before opening to public

Resorts World Las Vegas receiving dozens of online reviews before opening to public

By: Ross DiMatteiPosted at 5:38 PM, Jun 21, 2021 and last updated 7:22 AM, Jun 22, 2021

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Opening day for the highly-anticipated Resorts World Las Vegas is set for this Thursday. Even though the doors haven’t opened yet, dozens of people are already sharing their thoughts in online reviews.

A simple Google search for "Resorts World Las Vegas” reveals it already has a 4.2-star rating on Google, with 150 reviews. If you're wondering how that is possible, considering Resorts World doesn't even open until Thursday, you're not alone.

13 Action News reached out to Natalie Pennington, an assistant professor of Communication Studies at UNLV. She says sites like Google and Yelp do try to monitor reviews to make sure they're real, but in this situation, it's probably just too soon to start taking them down.

"It's not terribly uncommon because Google doesn't have that 'check-in' place and that's the same with Yelp or any other site where they tend to say, 'We are hoping that you're being honest,' but they don't really have the immediate, 'Oh, this isn't open yet. It couldn't happen,'" said Pennington.

After digging deeper, 13 Action News discovered most of these reviews fell into four categories:

Five-star reviews from people who claim to be employees at Resorts World, or those who say they've had early access to the resort.

Five-star reviews from supposed fake reviewers.

One-star reviews from people trying to balance out the potentially fake five-star reviews.

Five-star reviews from people who are trying to counteract the one-star reviews trying to balance out the potentially fake five-star reviews.

Regardless, Pennington says these reviews are very important to businesses in the competitive online market.

"Sites like Yelp or Google Reviews are great opportunities for people to go and do the research to say, “well, if I have 20 different resorts I could be staying at, which resort is the resort I can pick.” 20 years ago, maybe it was just word of mouth, a friend said, “hey I stayed here, it was cool.” You didn’t really go on the internet to look those things up. But now, there’s that opportunity, and I think it’s almost heavily encouraged, in some ways, as well," said Pennington.

13 Action News reached out to Resorts World and Google to see if they're aware of any potentially fake reviews and if they're trying to take them down.

RELATED: Resorts World Las Vegas: What you need to know

A Google spokesperson sent a statement that reads, "Our strict policies clearly state reviews must be based on real experiences, and when we find policy violations, we take action — from removing abusive content to disabling user accounts. We are looking into this situation, and will take the necessary steps to remove any fake or misleading content.”

Resorts World Las Vegas has not yet responded to our request for comment.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4862624&forum_id=2#42668309)

In December 2018, Wynn Resorts filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against Genting, alleging similarities between Resorts World and the Wynn/Encore properties. Alleged similarities included a curved facade and horizontal lines in between panels of bronze glass. Wynn Resorts alleged that Genting planned to profit by misleading visitors of Resorts World into believing that it was affiliated with Wynn's properties. Wynn Resorts also alleged that someone involved in Resorts World Las Vegas had requested a local architect to produce a design for the project that would be identical or similar to Wynn's resorts.[45][46][47] In January 2019, attorneys for Resorts World Las Vegas responded to the lawsuit, stating that the project had nearly two years to go before its opening and that it currently consisted of "a bare, skeletal structure covered by a few floors of window paneling," stating that once the resort was completed, it would look "dramatically different from Wynn's properties, dispelling any suggestion that a reasonable consumer could confuse the two resorts for each other."[48][49]

Attorneys for the project also stated that renderings of the building had been shown to Wynn executives during a meeting in July 2018, and that the building's design had been modified since then, with the earlier design having been "more similar to Wynn's than the current" design. Resorts World attorneys further stated, "Given that Wynn was aware at least six months ago of (Resorts World Las Vegas) design renderings that arguably looked more similar to Wynn's properties than do the current renderings, its heavy-handed, holiday-timed filing appears more directed at shutting down construction of a business competitor than avoiding any hypothetical confusion of customers two years down the road." New renderings of the project, created in January 2019 after the lawsuit was filed, showed the resort with red and orange facades. Wynn Resorts stated that the new renderings "are merely drawings which do not reflect the actual construction directly across the street from our resort. We will continue to pursue our legal claims and injunctive relief in this matter."[48][49]

Wynn Resorts sought a temporary restraining order against the project with the potential to shut down construction.[50] Resorts World stated that the halt of construction would delay the installation of glass panels and could cost an estimated $169 million, with immediate layoffs of 500 construction workers, out of a total of 1,500 workers involved with the project.[49] Wynn Resorts and Genting eventually settled the dispute at the end of January 2019; the latter agreed to have its design team make several changes to the project to differentiate it from the Wynn properties.[51]

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4862624&forum_id=2#42668321)