Online reviews now feed both buyer decisions and AI answer engines. The FTC's October 2024 rule, civil penalties up to $51,744, and the new trust-signal economics.
The FTC's 2024 Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, the seven prohibited practices, the supply chain behind review fraud, and what AI engine synthesis means for review integrity.
From Beacon in 2007 to Cambridge Analytica in 2018 to Meta AI training in 2026 — one of the most studied reputation cases in modern corporate history. Six locked lessons, plus the Apple counter-example.
Google Buzz launched Feb 9, 2010, shut down Oct 2011. Google+ followed and died in 2019. The pattern across Buzz, Wave, Plus, and the post-Threads landscape Google is sitting out.
RockYou's 2009 breach exposed 32M plain-text passwords. The leaked list became the foundation of modern password security — still used in 2026 to crack the RockYou2024 megabreach.