The FTC Wants to Crack Down HARD on Fake Reviews
You see that? That’s the Federal Trade Commission telling fake reviews to back the heifer up! I can hear your skepticism already, I can feel it rushing towards me like so much blood from an elevator- “The government actually caring about me?” you ask. “The system is totally broken, why should I trust it?”
Aha! Trust! That is what we’re after, after all, isn’t it? And that’s what the FTC wants for us, as little happy consumers; they want us to be able to trust advertising, to trust reviews, and to trust that our dollars are well-spent.
Now, I can hear you again. “This sounds familiar,” you say to no one in particular. Well, being the only other person here, I’m obliged to say “YES, it should!” We have already written about the FTC fighting the good fight before, here on this very blog.
We have covered the how the FTC slapped the hands of FashionNova for hiding fake reviews. We’ve talked about how they’ve cracked down on influencers for misleading consumers. And most recently, a company hijacked it’s own reviews, by adding a new “variety” of a product on a listing with many existing reviews. Now, they’re rolling all this into one big baseball bat of “don’t test me, son.” Translation, the FTC is proposing wide-ranging rules for reviews that cover all of their recent actions.
Gimme the Skinny, Slim
What, you want me to just skim this jazz from the FTC website, practically stealing from the government? OK, ok, I hear you. Yes, that’s definitely the just thing to do. Plus, why reinvent the wheel? Just remember, you asked for this, you’re enabling my laziness!
Anyway, instead of striking out at companies on a case by case basis, here is what the proposed rules would prohibit:
Selling or Obtaining Fake Consumer Reviews and Testimonials: The proposed rule would prohibit businesses from writing or selling consumer reviews or testimonials by someone who does not exist, who did not have experience with the product or service, or who misrepresented their experiences. It also would prohibit businesses from procuring such reviews or disseminating such testimonials if the businesses knew or should have known that they were fake or false.
Review Hijacking: Businesses would be prohibited from using or repurposing a consumer review written for one product so that it appears to have been written for a substantially different product. The FTC recently brought its first review hijacking enforcement action.
Buying Positive or Negative Reviews: Businesses would be prohibited from providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative.
Insider Reviews and Consumer Testimonials: The proposed rule would prohibit a company’s officers and managers from writing reviews or testimonials of its products or services, without clearly disclosing their relationships. It also would prohibit businesses from disseminating testimonials by insiders without clear disclosures of their relationships, and it would prohibit certain solicitations by officers or managers of reviews from company employees or their relatives, depending on whether the businesses knew or should have known of these relationships.
Company Controlled Review Websites: Businesses would be prohibited from creating or controlling a website that claims to provide independent opinions about a category of products or services that includes its own products or services.
Illegal Review Suppression: Businesses would be prohibited from using unjustified legal threats, other intimidation, or false accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review. The proposed rule also would bar a business from misrepresenting that the reviews on its website represent all reviews submitted when negative reviews have been suppressed.
Selling Fake Social Media Indicators: Businesses would be prohibited from selling false indicators of social media influence, like fake followers or views. The proposed rule also would bar anyone from buying such indicators to misrepresent their importance for a commercial purpose.
Source is here; thank you big GovDaddy!
So do I need to sum any of that up? It’s pretty clear and all common sense. It all sounds like they really do have our best interests in mind. Which IS a change, yeah?
I mean, maybe you make your living through fake reviews. Maybe you write them, maybe you write AI that writes them, maybe you buy them so people buy your crummy stuff. Well you’ve been warned. The FTC is out there, and they’re coming!
