The “ratings” and “awards” of Your Doctors and Lawyers Are Probably Fake

When it comes to our health or our legal needs, one of the biggest challenges is finding a professional we can trust . Finding a new doctor, dentist or lawyer can be stressful; those that come on the recommendation of friends or colleagues often don’t take on new patients or clients, and a search of your insurance directories or a random Google search for ” a good lawyer will do the will ” returns literally thousands of results.

Enter credentials: you probably noticed them. You’re sitting in the waiting room of your dentist’s or your doctor’s office with framed awards hanging on the wall announcing that they’re one of the elite “Top Dentists” or “Excellent Lawyer.” It’s reassuring and impressive – you’re not just seeing an old loser with a medical or law degree; you meet one of the best people!

Except: there is a very high chance that these awards mean nothing (at best) or are outright scams (at worst).

Pay to Play Professional Ranking Lists

While there are some professional rankings or “best” lists that are based on actual performance and a good faith effort to identify the truly exceptional in their field, the simple fact is that most of these awards are pretty much pay-per-play scams. . . In fact, it’s not uncommon for people who aren’t even medical professionals or lawyers to easily pay to receive one of these “awards,” as a ProPublica contributor did with the 2019 “Best Doctors” award, paying $99 to be named one of them, despite his apparent lack of medical training.

In fairness, it should be noted that some professionals innocently fall for this bait. These are often referred to as “invitations” and state that the doctor or lawyer has already received an award or been voted on – now they just need to pay for an official framed plaque or award to hang on the wall, and wording describing the selection process and any types of attestation is vague and misleading.

But some pros definitely know what they’re doing—using an impressive-looking reward scam as a marketing tool aimed at low-informed consumers. And we are all low information consumers at some point because there is little transparency in these areas. For example, when looking for a doctor, it can be difficult to find out if a surgeon or other medical practitioner has a good reputation. We kind of have to use tea leaves: the institution they’re affiliated with, the schools they’ve graduated from, and, of course, word of mouth and recommendations. It’s easy to see how an official-looking award on their wall can work as a ” credibility marker ,” giving a glimmer of official endorsement to a lawyer or healthcare professional.

These fake ratings are on the rise

The business of fake ratings is booming: A few years ago, The Wall Street Journal counted 1,200 ratings and awards just for lawyers, nearly double what it was a decade ago, and a company that develops websites for law firms maintains a Google doc filled with hundreds of awards and ratings of lawyers for spam/fraud. This is a big enough problem because the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a clear warning to consumers that seeing one of these awards on an attorney’s website or in their office is actually a red flag.

And it’s not just lawyers, doctors, and dentists—these scams have spread throughout the business community , offering “top” rankings or other types of awards and credentials in exchange for cash. As with lawyers and dentists, some businesses may innocently fall for it and proudly display their “reward”, while others may cynically pay for a few to lure unsuspecting customers. In any case, it is best to assume that these ratings and awards are dubious.