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On a recent vacation in Berlin, Emma Watkins, a marketing assistant working in the U.K., wrote a three-star review of a bar she visited. It was fine, but not amazing, and not what I expected from the high ranking reviewit was four-point-something, she recalls. Upon returning home, she noticed her middling review of the establishment was taken down. When they said it was defamatory I was confused, she says. I did some Googling, then realized what had gone on. And suddenly the high rating for what I thought was pretty average made sense. (Fast Company is not naming the bar so as not to fall foul of Germanys defamation laws itself.) Watkins isnt alone in losing trust in reviews of German businesses on Google. For much of the world, Google is far more pervasive than Yelp. If you want to find the best tourist attractions, bars, or restaurants in a new city outside the United States, your first port of call is likely Google Maps. The system works relatively well. The best restaurants are rewarded with good reviews, while would-be customers can make their own judgment on establishments that garner a two- or three-star rating. Some are weighed down by vicious one-star reviews from (likely?) nightmare customers while, in other cases, public judgment has rendered its verdict on the establishment. Except, that is, in Germany, where practically every restaurant, bar, and tourist attraction appears to be suspiciously excellent. The country seems to be filled with four- and five-star establishments. In Germany, an overly permissive defamation system means that any criticism of a business is likely to be wiped out by Googles takedown system. Fully 99.97% of Google Maps reviews taken down for defamation across the entire 27-country European Union are for businesses based in Germany, official European data shows. Social media is full of complaints that businesses in the country refuse to countenance negative reviews. There are German-language websites offering advice on how to strike negative reviews from Googles register. These articles themselves have ratings, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, receive a score of 4.3 out of 5. This is all part of the job of search engine optimization (SEO), which often extends into reputation management, says Manick Bhan, CEO of Search Atlas, a global SEO software company. Removing negative reviews isnt new. But weaponizing Germanys defamation system in this way is. As part of our work to provide trustworthy information on Google Maps, we remove reviews if they violate our content policies or local lawsnot simply because a business dislikes them, a Google spokesperson tells Fast Company. Reviewers get notified if their contributions are removed and have the option to appeal that decision. Typically, removing a negative review involves reaching out to the reviewer and asking them to reconsider their feedback, Bhan says. But in places like Germany where the digital laws are particularly strict, some SEOs handle the process differently. They often classify negative content as defamation and file formal complaints, essentially using a legal loophole to have the content removed by Google or similar platforms, Bhan says. Germanys stringent regulations make it possible for business owners to claim virtually any individual review as defamatory. Googles own support site highlights that its aware of the matter. In response to a Google product experts explanation of how the review matter is a known issue, everyday users are acknowledging the power imbalance. I get it, but it really skews the value that ratings in Germany really mean, one user wrote. Google does not comment on how it handles takedown requests. But experts have observed that the company tends to take action against negative reviews reported as defamatory if the reviewers cant cough up evidence they were actually at the establishment in questionlike a check or bill for the meal allowing the business owners to claim that the reviews are fictional. Under German law, the legal burden of proof is on those making statements rather than on prosecutors bringing a defamation case needing to prove the statements are false. Its why many users less-than-glowing reviews are taken down by Google. Bhan points out that taking down reviews when asked, even if the review is likely legitimate but lacking documentary evidence the reviewer was there, is an easier route for Google than keeping it up. Google doesnt want to risk penalties or fines from European regulators, so it may comply with such requests automatically, sometimes even at the expense of search quality, Bhan says. Its less about doing whats fair for users and more about staying compliant. This is clearly whats happening here in Germany. Of course, there are precedents for people to weaponize reviews to harm the reputation of businesses they disagree with. That’s why its seen as important to have the ability to dispute what are believed to be incorrect or non-factual reviews. But that weaponization can go both ways. The SEO expert is frank about the practice of weaponizing takedowns for defamation in Germany. Its not ideal, its not moral, but if everyone else is playing by those rules, businesses may feel forced to do the same.
Category:
E-Commerce
The quality of our decisions defines our legacy as leaders. We make around 35,000 decisions a day and close to 800,000,000 in a lifetime. Not all decisions are equal. Many are default, some are reversible, but the consequential ones leave us with no U-turn. Decision-making is inescapable. So, lets delve deeper into the anatomy of good decisions. What drives good vs. bad? Our decisions are deeply rooted in our values, competence, courage, and compassion. The psychological context from which decisions flow includes our emotional intelligence, comfort zone, values, moods, needs, decision-making style, and crucially, our self-awareness. Good decisions matter, but what drives the chemistry of good versus bad? Emotionally intelligent leaders have mastered the skill of responding rather than reacting. They understand the interplay between their comfort zone and their fears and the limitations this imposes. They have identified their nonnegotiable values. They understand that moods are biochemical responses to be tamed before making consequential decisions. They know their basic human needs can generate significant blind spots and patterns of decision-making of which they must become aware. Finally, leaders have preferred decision-making styles that determine both the quality and speed of their decisions. This is the chemistry of decision-making. Its clear, then, that the thoughts and emotions of a leader have the greatest impact on the quality of their decisions. So what are the safeguards for good decisions? Competence, courage, and compassion boosted by self-awareness and supported by values. The foundation Self-awareness is foundational. It enables us to see ourselves similarly to how others see us. We can stand outside ourselves and observe our behavior and the effect it has on our personal and professional relationships and the results we achieve. Self-awareness includes consciousness of our internal dialogue, the words we use, and the impact these words have on our emotions and behaviors. I have conducted thousands of Business Emotional Intelligence psychometric profiles and seen that on a standard deviation scale of one to ten, over 65% of leaders score between 4 and 7 on the self-awareness scale. Without self-awareness, we look outward for the causes of failure, blame others, and cast ourselves in the role of a victim instead of a responsible leader. With deep self-awareness, we are better positioned to apply the three Cs of good decisions: competence, courage, and compassion. The three Cs Competence means that we are capable of transforming our knowledge and experience into practical and coherent actions. We have sufficient objectivity to recognize that we do not know everything and that in this complex world with unparalleled depth and breadth of knowledge, we are not the ultimate reference for anything. We surround ourselves with competent, multidisciplinary teams who bring complementary capabilities into our circle of influence. We welcome those who ask uncomfortable questions, scrutinize the details, point out the risks, and have respectful adult-to-adult conversations with us. Most important of all, we do not want to be the “Emperor” in the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Courage. The willingness to make unpopular decisions, admit that we were wrong or that we made a mistake, is what courage looks like in decision-making. It takes courage to look in the mirror and objectively (as is humanly possible) examine the facts from multiple perspectives, scrutinize the logic, face our biases, and strip away the vanity of our egos in order to make the hard decisions. Here are three questions and their shadow questions that can help us make decisions based on principle instead of popularity: What did you focus on? But what did you miss? What did it mean? How was your interpretation distorted by your assumptions? What did you do? What action did you not take? Compassion. Awakening our humanity by looking at our fellow humans and recognizing that they too have feelings, needs, and perspectives is what empathy is about. We do not have to agree or disagree with them. Understanding others enriches and expands our range and depth of experience. It does not threaten our existence. Compassion is not pity. It is a recognition of what makes us human. If we close our eyes to what is happening around us, we miss the most critical component of all. Decisions are not driven by facts. Decisions are driven by emotion and justified by facts. By ignoring emotions we omit one of the most critical components of good decisions. Fear of the unknown According to the Center for Creative Leadership and Harvard Business School, the greatest fear of the CEOs of the 200 top companies in the U.S. is not knowing what they dont knowfor example, what the next disruptive technology will be and where it will come from. Emotion is what drives action, not logic. Recognizing this will improve the quality of our decisions and ensure that good decisions are acted upon. Good decisions are actionable, aligned, and sustainable through clarity of purpose based on values. Values are what matters most to us. However, we are often unaware of our values because values drive our default behaviors, habits, and unconscious biases. The good news is that we can become conscious of what our values really are by analyzing our most difficult and life-changing decisions. Embedded in our subconscious programming, once consciously identified, values enable us to find our purpose and make decisions that are not only attainable but also sustainable. Life-changing decisions like leaving your medical practice to become a bestselling author or volunteering to do unpaid work because you want to contribute are good examples. Our values drive and support our decisions. In conclusion, self-awareness boosts good decisions because it enables leaders to look inward and outward and objectively separate their assumptions from the true causes of problems. The three Cscompetence, courage, and compassionform a powerful triad upon which great leaders can make better decisions. Looking for the facts through multidisciplinary perspectives, separating ego from objectives, and understanding the human impact of decisions are safeguards. Finally, when good values are aligned with purpose, decisions become more actionable. These are the foundations of good decisions.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its a well-known fact that phone time before bed makes it harder to sleep. Studies show that a nighttime scroll keeps your brain active, delays REM sleep, and may even disrupt your circadian rhythm. Now, Ikea has created an unusual solution to this damaging habit: designing a dedicated bed for your phone. The Ikea Phone Sleep Collection is essentially an ultra-miniaturized version of an Ikea bed frame, made in the perfect dimensions to cradle your smartphone on a bedside table. Embedded in the beds frame is an NFC chip that tracks how long the phone has been tucked in. If the time exceeds seven hours for seven consecutive nights, the user is rewarded with a shopping voucher of around $27. Despite its diminutive size, this five-piece product, like almost all of Ikeas inventory, comes flat-packed and requires self-assembly. From the masters of sleep comes a new revolution in rest: A complete breakthrough in bedtime that will change the world for good, an ad for the phone bed reads. Its the innovation you didnt know you needed until now, and that you will never not need again. Unfortunately for doomscrollers in the U.S., the agency Memac Ogilvy made the the Phone Sleep Collection exclusively for Ikea customers in the United Arab Emirates, where its currently available to locals who spend more than $207 on Ikea products. While the phone bed is clearly a marketing ploy, its not exactly an outlandish idea within todays growing market for hacks to reduce screentime. [Photo: Ikea] Why tucking your phone into bed makes sense, actually Around 2017, dumbphones enjoyed a spike in popularity as smartphone users began to realize just how much their phones dictated their daily lives, with brands including Nokia and Consumer Cellular jumping in on the trend. Since then, though, the dumbphone craze has waned slightly as smartphones have become an increasingly integral and unavoidable tool for both work and life. Instead, luddite hopefuls are turning to creative alternatives to cut their screentime. Recent solutions have included screentime reducing apps, like Hank Greens Focus Friend or the Touch Grass app; a Brick device that blocks distracting apps; and even a phone case thats so heavy its literally hard to pick up. The Ikea phone bed is basically another concept within this realm, except specifically geared toward the nighttime ritual. “While the Phone Sleep Collection is a limited launch here in the UAE, its underlying principle addresses a universal challenge,” says Carla Klumpenaar, Ikea UAE’s GM of marketing, communications, HF & retail design. “We believe that small, mindful rituals, like tucking your phone into its own bed, can create better routines that can contribute to improved sleep quality and mental clarity. This initiative transforms an everyday challenge into an engaging lifestyle habit, underlining IKEAs commitment to offering meaningful solutions that extend beyond just furniture.” Is it silly? Of course. But if it works to reclaim even a bit of shut-eye, it might just be genius.
Category:
E-Commerce
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