. >> reporter: when hvac service heating and air had to reschedule an appointment, debbie ramos said she never imagined it would earn them a one star review on yelp but she was even more shocked at the response they got when they offered to make it up to the yelp super reviewer. >> he will change the review if he gets a check. >> reporter: paying for reviews is a clear violation of yelp's policy and the new york attorney general has now made it clear, it's also against the law. 19 companies have agreed to pay $350,000 in penalties for either writing fake online reviews or paying others to do it for them. >> this type of activity is not just a bad behavior but it's illegal. >> reporter: yelp says their review filter algorithm has been filtering out fakes for years but hopes the attorney general's action will add another layer of deterrent industrywide. fake reviews are more common on various sites thanks in part to a growing number of online reputation management companies that will write reviews for a price. >> use remember clearly relying on consumer reviews to find a -- users are c