The Competition and Markets Authority is to investigate whether businesses are posting fake reviews on websites in a bid to unfairly boost trade, and whether it needs to clamp down on the illegal practice.
The business regulator said an initial study on the issue had unearthed evidence that restaurants and other firms were posting fake reviews in sufficient numbers to warrant a formal investigation. It also found that online reviews greatly influenced more than half of adult when they were shopping online.
The CMA has deliberately not named any companies, but the study is likely to focus on the types of reviews posted on TripAdvisor, TrustedTrader and Checkatrade – and the host of websites that increasingly rely on reviews posted by customers to build trust.
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