What does the CMA crackdown on fake online reviews mean for businesses?

New law gives the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) direct powers to issue potentially huge fines to UK businesses who publish fake or misleading online reviews. Following its actions against Amazon and Google, the CMA plans to publicise and fine companies who don’t comply.

Risks businesses face if they enable or ignore fake reviews

The CMA is actively on the lookout for non-compliant retailers and aggregation sites following the grace period that ends in July 2025. “Name and shame” reports, which can generate doubts in the minds of consumers, may be published. Given how persuasive reviews are for online consumers, if trust in reviews is damaged, sites will experience a steep drop in sales even if no formal action is taken.

In addition, businesses could also face fines of up to £300,000, or 10% of global turnover: the risks are really very significant.

It’s primarily the publisher of the review who is liable, not the reviewer themselves. The publisher has responsibility for preventing and taking steps to remove banned content (fake reviews; incentivised reviews; and false or misleading consumer review information). This still applies, even if a third party is engaged to monitor reviews.

In some cases, the individual who posted the review will be liable, too – for example, influencers or bloggers who don’t disclose incentivised reviews with the word “AD”.

Steps businesses must take to avoid penalties

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) requires that retailers and aggregator sites take “reasonable and proportionate steps”: so, what’s expected of Amazon is not the same as for the small to mid-sized retailer.

What is reasonable and proportionate? The law requires positive action, so consider the following as a top 10:

• DO flag the changes at board and senior management level – raise awareness internally of the risk and need for action.
• DO conduct a risk assessment – what’s happening right now? Are you receiving fake reviews or incentivising reviews? Are you manipulating review information? Are there suspicious reviews on your site? Investigate them. Do you delete offending reviews (good and bad) and bar repeat offenders?
• DO make sure fake reviews are clearly banned – in emails asking for feedback; on the review page itself; and in your site terms. State that bogus reviews will be removed and action may be taken against offenders. Ensure you regularly check and enforce your policy. Keep written records.
• DON’T engage in any review manipulation – ensure that reviews for one product aren’t added to another to boost sales. Keep reviews up to date; if the product is changed, start the review aggregation from scratch. Don’t place favourable reviews more prominently. Don’t make it difficult for consumers to place a negative review or refer them instead to a complaints procedure. Don’t edit comments.
• DON’T allow staff to place fake positive reviews for your products, or place negative reviews for competitors – add this to your staff handbook and train staff so they are aware.
• DO flag incentivised reviews – if incentivised reviews are allowed (e.g. free products for review; or gift vouchers), you must ensure this is disclosed in the review as “AD” or “ADVERT”. Alternatively, specify in your site terms that incentivised reviews are banned, if that’s the case.
• DO review your influencer marketing policies – make sure influencers you work with are aware of the CMA’s powers and expectations.
• DO make it easy for your loyal customers to help – have an easy-to-find email address or other methods that allow customers to flag questionable reviews and specify in your site terms that you will investigate where suspicions are well founded and genuine.
• DO only allow reviews to be submitted by verified purchasers – be transparent about your review checks and collection process.
• DO check third-party compliance – if you outsource your review collection and monitoring, check that your partner can and does comply. Automated services can miss fake reviews.

There are great advantages in online shopping and the high street is, like it or not, fatally declining. The disadvantage of an online purchase is, of course, the inability of the consumer to really know what they are getting in advance. So, expect legal protection for online sales to continue to increase. The quality and legality of the online experience is as essential as the quality and legality of the products themselves.

If you are a retailer and have questions or concerns about fake reviews, or any other element of online sales and compliance with consumer law, please contact Commercial lawyer Lucy Blick-Jones.