Rotten Tomatoes, the popular aggregation site for movie ratings, has been hit with a scandal revealing that its scores have been manipulated for over five years. A PR firm called Bunker 15 has been paying critics up to $50.00 per Rotten Tomatoes review, usually to obscure critics who are part of a pool tracked by the site. This practice goes against the site’s rules, which prohibit reviewing based on financial incentives. Director Paul Schrader criticized Rotten Tomatoes, calling it a “broken” system that can be gamed by studios. In response, Rotten Tomatoes delisted several Bunker 15 films and issued warnings to reviewers. The site is now under scrutiny for potentially similar cases. Rotten Tomatoes may attempt to remove these manipulations, but there is a general feeling that audiences rely too heavily on the platform, making manipulation inevitable.
https://www.screengeek.net/2023/09/06/rotten-tomatoes-pr-firm-paying-critics-positive-reviews/