January 1, 2025, 8:57 am | Read time: 6 minutes
Wherever products, stores, or services can be rated on the Internet, so-called review bombing can occur. TECHBOOK explains what this term means.
“The customer is king” is a well-known and widespread motto that is used whenever people want to use services or buy goods for cash. In the past, if something didn’t suit them, the only option was often to complain via a hotline or ask the boss directly. However, this is no longer the case in the age of the Internet.
Nowadays, the vastness of the World Wide Web offers numerous platforms where you can directly reach a wide audience and share your opinions on various topics and situations without significant detours. This ease of communication can sometimes result in questionable outcomes, such as review bombing. TECHBOOK delves into the phenomenon, explaining its meaning, the typical perpetrators, and its potential consequences.
Overview
What Review Bombing Means
Review bombing, a term derived from combining “review” and “bombing,” signifies a sudden surge in negative customer or user feedback targeting a specific product, business, or service online. This usually occurs visibly on well-known platforms with an integrated rating and/or comment function and over a short period of time.
Detailed justifications for such feedback are typically not provided. The practice can also only manifest itself in very many 1-star ratings or thumbs-down ratings with no or only minimal text.
It is important to note that an accumulation of negative reviews alone does not constitute review bombing. After all, many individuals can simply be dissatisfied with something completely and independently of each other and express this honestly. However, review bombing often carries an underlying intent to harm the reputation or success of the target.
Origin of the Term
It is not possible to determine exactly when and where review bombing first appeared. The history of the term itself is also not easy to trace. An article from the English-language technology site Ars Technica from 2008 is considered an early use, in which the author Ben Kuchera wrote that “review-bombing on Amazon is a particularly mean way” of making a point.
In this specific case, the video game Spore received a barrage of negative reviews from a multitude of disappointed gamers, making their dissatisfaction known to the developers.
Who Does It, and Why?
Kuchera also touched on another important point back then when he mentioned that casual gamers might not be aware of “this campaign” and, therefore, no longer read the specific content of the reviews. Rather than investigating the reasons behind the negative reviews, they might simply conclude that the game is subpar overall.
Review bombing can be a form of protest, trolling, or coercion. Particularly passionate fans or individuals with generally strong opinions who have strong emotional reactions may be responsible. However, individuals with multiple accounts can also be behind it.
If there are unpopular changes, for example, to a well-known brand, political or cultural controversies, or if the behavior of a company or person is sharply criticized, review bombing can constitute an attempt at a boycott. Such boycott attempts can even be coordinated through specific internet forums and communities.
Examples of Review Bombing
The practice has been used repeatedly for years in various sectors. The entertainment industry is particularly prominent, and its games, films, and series have been targeted several times. Below, we present some well-known examples.
Movies and Series
Time and again, many people express their displeasure with major cinema or streaming productions. For example, Cleopatra was first targeted in 2023. The series set a dubious record for negative feedback on Netflix and faced heated controversy both before and after its release, primarily due to the skin color of the lead actress.
Amazon’s lavishly produced The Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power also received a steady stream of bad reviews and hate comments – partly because of the cast. In response, the cast of The Rings of Power united in denouncing racism publicly.
Video Games
Video and computer games are also repeatedly the subject of downright floods of negative reactions. This can affect both larger and smaller titles, and in addition to content-related aspects, technical problems are often a popular reason to vent.
For example, Warcraft 3 Reforged has since become the worst game in the world on Metacritic because gamers slated it. Sometimes, it can be the wrong game. As recently as the end of 2023, a review bombing rained down on “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” from 2011, shortly before the release of the new “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.” Apparently, many people confused the two games.
Apps and Streaming
It doesn’t just have to be about specific content – apps and streaming platforms themselves are not immune either. It was only in February of this year that Amazon’s Prime Video app plummeted in the ratings.
The reason for this was the introduction of new advertising and a simultaneous downgrading of the technical scope of the service. To bypass this, users are now required to pay an additional fee of €2.99.
Possible Reactions and Countermeasures
Review bombing forces those affected to take action. Websites have either restricted the review options or temporarily suspended them completely. Following abuse of the portal, Rotten Tomatoes, for example, now only allows user ratings for films after they have been released, unlike before.
The gaming platform Steam also introduced a history display for ratings in 2017. This feature aims to help distinguish brief spikes in poor ratings, characteristic of review bombing, from genuine, sustained negative feedback that reflects a title’s quality. This is in contrast to games that are poorly received over a longer period of time.
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Reverse Review Bombing
Less common, but nonetheless also recurring, is reverse review bombing. Instead of negativity, in this case, fans and users shower a product or manufacturer with praise and love.
This can be used to praise decisions that are viewed positively by the online community or to fight for a cause, such as a canceled series. It can also serve as a countermeasure to combat the effects of negative review bombing.