Edmonton area toy store hammered with anti-mask ‘review bombing’

The owner of a small Edmonton area toy store says it’s a nightmare, right before Christmas, being pulled into the anti-vaccine protest movement’s crosshairs.

The Village Toy Box, located in Sherwood Park, says it all began with an unexpected message last week from someone telling them they were organizing a toy drive.

“Immediately when I got that, red flags went off everywhere and I contacted the police, who said I can’t really stop them from coming,” said Brittany, the owner of Village Toy Box.

But the RCMP stayed in touch, recognizing the group organizing the event were known to police for their often radical protests against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines.

And on Saturday, two weeks before Christmas, the store took the police’s advice and closed for the day to avoid conflict.

“I didn’t eat all week last week,” she said. “I think today’s the first time I woke up feeling somewhat rested.”

It’s called review bombing. When a call goes out to tank a business’ Google reviews, often followed by supporters trying to counteract.

“It looks like a war on my Google reviews.”

One marketing expert CityNews spoke with says typically, review bombing ends as quickly as it starts, and most consumers can see through it.

“If the review is too extreme, or too short, or completely unrelated to the business, then companies can have some faith that most other consumers will read it and go ‘well, should I put so much faith in that review?’” said Sarah Moore, a Marketing Professor from the University of Alberta.

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CityNews reached out to Google about the Village Roy Box’s reviews, in which it responded:

“Our team is actively investigating the issue and will take necessary action to remove policy-violating content. We have clear policies that prohibit fake contributed content, and our automated systems and trained operators work around clock to monitor Maps for suspicious behavior. We encourage our users to flag reviews
that they feel are fake, which helps us improve our automated detection systems and keep the information on Maps authentic and reliable.”

Come Monday afternoon, the toy store’s page was reset to what it was before the online mob.

But Moore says this is a growing issue businesses and tech need to navigate.

“It’s a much bigger thing especially in relation to COVID and politics.”

For Brittany, she’s thankful for the strangers who reached out to help her navigate the situation she never asked for but now finds herself wary of everyone who comes through her store’s door.

“I can’t wait for this year to be over!”