Honest Review Or Fake? New Rules Tackling Fake Reviews Are Coming
Review websites such as TrustPilot, TripAdvisor and ReviewSolicitors can be great for business, but by their very nature, they are ripe for misuse and can cost reputable businesses financially and reputationally. They are also very unfair to consumers. Plans to clamp down on fake reviews are therefore being widely welcomed.
Accord to a consumer review this year by BrightLocal, in the past year 62% of consumers said they have seen a fake review for a local business: more than half (54%) were seen on Amazon and 42% were fake Facebook reviews.
As UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls recently said: “Fake reviews do irreparable damage to businesses, offer consumers a misleading view of a business and devalue the efforts of honest customers leaving genuine feedback.”
Fake reviews clampdown
Fake or dishonest reviews have led to public apologies and damages payouts to those who have been damaged, but there is little existing legal protection against harms caused by fake reviews.
However, the government recently unveiled plans to clamp down on fake reviews under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill. The new powers are included among a raft of proposed new protections for consumers.
By tackling the scourge of fake reviews, businesses will clearly benefit – but they will also have to toe a new line. The plan is to ban the practice of facilitating fake reviews or advertising consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine. This will include increasing the transparency of how a firm’s app store or marketplace review system works.
When the measures come into force, the Digital Markets Unit (DMC) will have power to fine non-compliant businesses up to 10% of their global turnover. Furthermore, senior managers could be made personally responsible for ensuring their company complies with requests by the DMU to, for example open up their data to rival search engines.
There are also plans to consult on a new law to ban commissioning individuals from writing or submitting a fake review; and offering or advertising to submit, commission or facilitate fake reviews.
Solicitor Reviews
In the legal profession, engagement with review websites is relatively low, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority – which is somewhat surprising given the increasing propensity for law firms to put their review rating on their homepage. However, the SRA recently found review sites being used more frequently - and are seen as more reliable than price comparison sites.
But unsurprisingly, some law firms highlighted concerns about customer reviews in general, how websites curated them and protected against fake entries by non-clients. Another concern was negative comments being posted by genuine clients who had simply not received their preferred outcome.
There’s also the perennial concern of a defamatory comment can seriously undermine a firm’s reputation. In early 2021, for instance, a law firm won £25,000 in damages after a disgruntled client left a defamatory review on TrustPilot.
Fake, dishonest or misleading reviews are undeniably bad for business and bad for consumers. The new legislation is currently at Committee stage and is expected to come into force in the second half of next year. We’ll be watching progress of the Bill.
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