Google has committed to stronger safeguards against fake online reviews in the UK by promising to clamp down on misleading practices and penalise businesses and individuals found boosting their star ratings fraudulently.
The agreement comes in the wake of an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which warned that dishonest reviews could potentially influence up to £23 billion of consumer spending every year.
In its pledge, Google has said that it will identify and remove fraudulent content more swiftly, and even issue warning labels on the profiles of offending businesses. Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, welcomed the move, saying: “Left unchecked, fake reviews damage people’s trust and leave businesses who do the right thing at a disadvantage. The changes we’ve secured from Google ensure robust processes are in place, so people can have confidence in reviews and make the best possible choices.”
She added that this development is “a matter of fairness – for both business and consumers” and urged other platforms to review their processes, reminding them that the CMA has new powers from April to decide independently if consumer law has been broken, with fines of up to 10 per cent of global turnover for non-compliance.
Under the agreement, Google must report back to the CMA over the next three years to demonstrate it is honouring its new commitments. The American tech giant, which claims to block millions of fake reviews each year, said in response: “Our longstanding investments to combat fraudulent content help us block millions of fake reviews yearly – often before they ever get published.”
The CMA launched its investigation into Google and Amazon in 2021, concerned that both were not doing enough to prevent the proliferation of fake reviews on their platforms. The CMA’s probe into Google has reached a resolution with this agreement, while the enquiry into Amazon remains ongoing.
The regulator has increased its oversight of Big Tech in recent months, including opening separate investigations into Google’s search and advertising practices and the operating systems of both Apple and Google. Meanwhile, the CMA’s new interim chair, Doug Gurr, a former Amazon executive, prompted the business minister Justin Madders to reject claims that the government is “in the pocket of big tech”.