Online reviews

The CMA launches investigation into fake online reviews.

From:
Competition and Markets Authority
Published
22 May 2020
Last updated
25 June 2021 — See all updates
Case type:
Consumer enforcement
Case state:
Open
Market sector:
Communications
Opened:
21 May 2020

CMA opens formal probe into Amazon and Google over reviews

25 June 2021: The CMA has now opened formal enforcement cases against Amazon and Google in relation to possible breaches of consumer protection law. The CMA has concerns that Amazon and Google have not been doing enough to tackle fake reviews on their sites. It will be gathering further information from the two firms to determine whether they may have breached consumer law by taking insufficient action to protect shoppers from such reviews on their sites.

This comes as a result of the initial CMA investigation, launched in May 2020, which assessed several platforms’ internal systems and processes for identifying and dealing with fake reviews.

Investigation launch

22 May 2020: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into several major websites that display online reviews.

The CMA will investigate whether these websites are taking sufficient measures to protect consumers from fake and misleading reviews. In particular, it will examine how the websites currently detect, investigate and respond to fake and misleading reviews. It will look into issues such as:

  • suspicious reviews – where, for example, a single user has reviewed an unlikely range of products or services;

  • whether businesses are manipulating the presentation of reviews about their products and services by, for example, combining positive reviews for one product with the reviews for another; and

  • how these websites handle reviews about products or services that the reviewer has received a payment or other incentive to review.

Press release: CMA investigates misleading online reviews (22.5.20)

This investigation is part of a wider programme of work tackling fake and misleading online reviews.

If any individual or business would like to provide information to the CMA in relation to this investigation they can do so by emailing onlinereviews@cma.gov.uk.

Use of information submitted

The CMA will use any information you provide in facilitating its statutory functions, in particular to help us in considering or taking enforcement action under Part 8 Enterprise Act 2002, should that be appropriate.

The information you provide will be treated in accordance with the restrictions on disclosure in Part 9 Enterprise Act 2002.

When handling personal data (like your contact details), we follow data protection law as set out in the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and the Data Protection Act 2018 and other law designed to protect sensitive information. ‘Personal data’ is information which relates to you or someone else from which you can be identified. The CMA will be the data controller for any personal information you provide.

We may use any personal information you provide to facilitate our statutory functions, as set out above. For example, we may contact you again for further information that might help us with our work or, where necessary, we may share information with other law enforcement, consumer or regulatory bodies (nationally and internationally).

More information on how the CMA processes personal data, including your rights and how to complain please see our privacy notice below:

Contacts

Published 22 May 2020
Last updated 25 June 2021 + show all updates

  1. CMA opens formal probe into Amazon and Google over reviews.

  2. First published.

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