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  4. Competition body halts fake online review operation

Competition body halts fake online review operation

7th March 2016 | consumer

Enforcement action has been taken against a marketing firm that was writing fake online reviews for small businesses.

A Competition & Markets Authority investigation into Total SEO & Marketing Ltd, a search engine optimisation and online marketing company, found that between 2014 and 2015 it had written over 800 fake positive reviews for 86 small businesses that were published across 26 different websites carrying customer reviews.

Action was taken under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which ban misleading practices in general and specifically list as a banned practice falsely representing oneself as a consumer.

The company and its directors have undertaken to the CMA that they have ceased the practice of writing fake reviews for their clients, and will take steps to remove the fake reviews already posted online.

In addition, the CMA has written to Total’s clients to warn them that third parties writing fake reviews on their behalf might lead to them breaking the law themselves. The small businesses concerned include car dealers, mechanics, landscape gardeners and other tradespeople.

In other recent cases, two websites for finding tradespeople and three care home review sites have agreed to improve their practices for checking and presenting online reviews, in response to concerns raised by the CMA.

Nisha Arora, senior director, consumer, at the CMA commented: “With more than half of people in the UK using online reviews to help them choose what to buy, they are becoming an increasingly valuable source of information. Fake reviews can lead to people making the wrong decisions and fair-playing businesses losing out.

“Search engine optimisation companies, PR and marketing agencies provide a valuable service to businesses, but they must do this lawfully. Our enforcement action against Total SEO makes clear that posting fake reviews about clients is unacceptable.”

In the next few weeks the CMA expects to announce the outcome of its investigation into unlabelled endorsements.

Click here for CMA guidance on online reviews.

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