Fake online reviews and testimonials now banned by the US FTC

If you’re the kind of online shopper who regularly uses customer reviews to judge whether something is worth buying, then you’ll be happy to know that the United States Federal Trade Commission has your back with a new set of rules that prohibit the use of fake reviews to make a product appear better than it is.

FTC Chair Lina Khan posted information about when the rules came into effect on X, including the appropriate email address to report any violations. Given how many online retailers use customer reviews to rate and rank their products, these new rules are likely to have far-reaching effects, although it will take some time to have a noticeable impact.

This is because the legislation requires customers to report any violations they have encountered for the FTC to take action, which requires said customers to be aware of the decision and how to report the problem. But as more people become aware of all this, the rules will begin to reach their full effectiveness.

And powerful, they prohibit, like all together, a complete list of problems encountered by online buyers:

Fake or fake customer reviews and testimonials, including those from celebrities
Buying positive and negative reviews
Insider Reviews
Company-controlled review sites
Deleting reviews
The misuse of fake social media indicators

Traditionally, fake reviews and testimonials have been written by people paid to do so, or by representatives of the companies involved, creating fake accounts and posing as users. But the FTC makes clear that the first of these includes the use of AI-generated fake reviews, an iceberg of which we are currently only seeing the tip.

Of course, not all reviews one sees online are fake, and businesses that provide a service often thrive on a wealth of genuine customer reviews.

However, when these reviews are negative, there have been cases where companies or individuals have threatened legal action or physical intimidation to have a review removed.

The FTC rules also prohibit this and include situations where a company claims to show all of its reviews when in reality a large majority of them failed to appear because they were negative or critical to with regard to the company.

This decision, however, seems to be the most difficult to apply, because it is not easy to determine whether the opinions presented are all or only a small sample.

But it’s still a step in the right direction and good news for online shoppers. I doubt we will ever see an end to fake reviews, but at least there is now a proper mechanism for reporting them to the relevant authorities.

Remember to keep a cynical mindset when you see a customer review of a product, whether positive or negative, and remember the old adage:

“If it sounds too good to be true, then it is!”

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