Nextdoor CEO and co-founder Nirav Tolia is calling for a major rethink of the online review industry, arguing that fake and manipulated reviews have made it increasingly difficult for consumers to know what information they can trust.
Tolia, who previously co-founded Epinions in 1999, says anonymous star ratings are particularly vulnerable to manipulation because reviewers have little to lose if their opinions are exposed as fake. He believes recommendations tied to real identities and social accountability could provide stronger signals of trust.
The rise of artificial intelligence has made the problem more urgent. AI can generate convincing reviews at scale, while businesses can also become targets of “AI bombing,” in which large volumes of misleading content are created to damage their reputations.
Tolia argues that as information becomes increasingly abundant and AI-generated content becomes harder to distinguish from genuine experiences, provenance—the ability to know who is behind a recommendation—will become more important than ever. His advice to consumers is simple: before trusting an online recommendation, ask who is making it and what they have to gain or lose.
