review bomb

[ri-vyoo bom]

verb (used with object)

Digital Technology.

1. to manipulate an online rating system with a semiorganized campaign of unfavorable user reviews, often as a general statement of disapproval for a creator, a publisher, or other business, rather than a genuine opinion about a specific product or experience.

   The game was review bombed by angry players after the publisher blocked fan-created content.

Other Word Forms

• review bomber noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of review bomb¹

First recorded in 2015–20

Example Sentences

Mr. Toto said there were efforts to “review bomb” the movie by posting negative comments before the film’s debut, but that Rotten Tomatoes rejected them.

Read more on Washington Times

The group claims to have been taking down Russian websites, defacing them and encouraging people to "review bomb" Russian businesses online with messages about the war.

Read more on BBC

Confused podcast listeners helpfully review bomb Apple Podcasts You might recall people pointing out months ago that Apple Podcasts maintained an abysmally low app rating.

Read more on The Verge

When users began to review bomb the app last Thursday, Robinhood reached a one-star rating with nearly 275,000 reviews.

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Metacritic is not the only platform tackling a review bomb problem.

Read more on The Verge