Online reviews
Source: gov.uk (2025-06-06)

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into fake online reviews.

Undertaking accepted from Amazon

6 June 2025: Amazon Europe Core SARL has signed undertakings committing to enhance its existing systems for tackling fake reviews and ‘catalogue abuse’. Catalogue abuse involves sellers hijacking the reviews of well-performing products and adding them to an entirely separate and different product to falsely boost its star rating.

Amazon has committed to tough sanctions for businesses that boost their star ratings via bogus reviews or catalogue abuse, and users who post fake reviews.

In its next phase of work to tackle fake reviews, the CMA will be looking into the conduct of players across the sector, including businesses whose products and services are listed on review sites, to determine whether further CMA action is needed under the new consumer regime (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cmas-approach-to-direct-consumer-protection). As part of this, the CMA is currently conducting an initial sweep of review platforms following the publication of its fake reviews guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fake-reviews-cma208) in April. This seeks to identify review platforms that may need to do more to ensure they are complying with consumer law (as is outlined in the guidance).
- Amazon’s undertaking to the CMA (PDF, 206KB) (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6841a7ca578282a4b102c0ab/Amazon_s_undertaking_to_the_CMA_.pdf) (signed on 8 May 2025) (6.6.25)
- Press notice: Amazon gives undertakings to CMA to curb fake reviews (https://gov.uk/government/news/amazon-gives-undertakings-to-cma-to-curb-fake-reviews) (6.6.25)
Undertaking accepted from Google

24 January 2025: Google LLC has signed undertakings in relation to its processes for tackling fake reviews. These commit Google to have in place enhanced processes to tackle fake reviews written about businesses and services. Google has also agreed to enforce sanctions to deter businesses that try to benefit from fake reviews and sanction those that write fake or misleading reviews.

As part of the CMA’s work to tackle fake reviews, it has created draft guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/unfair-commercial-practices-guidance) to help businesses ensure they are in line with consumer law. The consultation period on this guidance concluded on 22 January 2025, and the final version is set to be published later this year. It forms part of the CMA’s work to promote an environment where people can be confident they are getting great choices and fair deals online.
- Google’s undertaking to the CMA (PDF, 228KB) (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67924902e982ca138427fc1e/Google_s_undertaking_to_the_CMA.pdf) (signed on 19 December 2024) (24.1.25)
- Press notice: CMA secures important changes from Google to tackle fake reviews (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-secures-important-changes-from-google-to-tackle-fake-reviews) (24.1.25)
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.
- Press release: CMA to investigate Amazon and Google over fake reviews (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-to-investigate-amazon-and-google-over-fake-reviews) (25.6.21)
Investigation launch

22 May 2020: The 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-investigates-misleading-online-reviews) (22.5.20)

This investigation is part of a wider programme of work tackling fake and misleading online reviews (https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/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 xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

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:
- Privacy notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/competition-and-markets-authority/about/personal-information-charter) (22.5.20)
Contacts
- Assistant Director: Laila Benfaida (xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)) and Darren Beck (xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx))
- Director: Jon Riley (xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx))
- Senior Responsible Officer: George Lusty (xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx))