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Analysis

Dr. Fraudster Still Deceiving Surgery Patients on Google

Convicted Dr. Sajan and his Seattle plastic surgery clinic don't just rank highly in the 3-Pack, they often rank first for money phrases such as "best plastic surgeon." Google has done little to limit their visibility despite their deceptive SEO and illegal review methods living consumers at risk.

Mike Blumenthal

Dr. Fraudster Still Deceiving Surgery Patients on Google

Dr. Javad Sajan of Allure Esthetic in Seattle was convicted of fraudulent review practices in April, 2024 and in July he entered into a consent decree to pay $5 million in fines and restitution. As part of that agreement he was ordered to "perform a full audit of all public reviews on Google, Yelp, WebMD and other third-party review platforms, and request removal of every review Allure was involved in creating, posting or shaping in any manner."

And yet, as of today, Google has removed few if any of these ill-gotten reviews, the rating remains essentially the same and the rank manipulating company name spam remains.

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Update 10/12: The issue of the name spam AND the many reviews accrued during this company’s known period of malfeasance was raised with Google again. Google removed 11 reviews leaving the listing with 924, still hundreds more than competitors. More importantly Google did nothing about the YMYL (your money or your life) risk implicit in this search result.

Crime Seems to Pay

Dr. Sajan and his practice don't just rank highly in the 3-Pack, but often rank first for money phrases such as best plastic surgeon, best plastic surgeon Seattle, cosmetic surgeon Seattle, plastic surgeon Seattle. The name spam and reviews contribute to this shit show.