2 hours ago
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Faarea MasudBusiness reporter
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Food delivery giant Just Eat and motoring site Autotrader are among five firms being investigated as part of a probe into fake and misleading online reviews by the UK's competition watchdog.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is also investigating reviews site Feefo, funeral firm Dignity and Pasta Evangelists, is looking at whether they have broken consumer law.
The investigation will focus on how reviews are obtained, moderated and presented to customers.
Online reviews influence billions of pounds of spending each year, yet many consumers worry about misleading content online.
"Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust," said the CMA's chief executive, Sarah Cardell.
"With household budgets under pressure, people need to know they're getting genuine information – not reviews or star-ratings that have been manipulated to push them towards the wrong choice.
"We've given businesses the time to get things right. Now we're deploying our new powers to tackle some of the most harmful practices head on."
Under new powers announced in 2024 and enforced since April, the CMA can fine firms for violating consumer law, without needing to go through the courts.
While the CMA is investigating the five businesses, it said it had "not reached any conclusions about whether consumer law has been broken".
- Feefo and Autotrader are under investigation over whether they denied consumers a "fully rounded" picture online of others people's experiences by not including some bad reviews
- Just Eat is being probed over whether or not it inflated certain restaurants' and grocers' star ratings
- Dignity is being investigated over whether it asked staff to write positive reviews about the firm's cremation services, giving people "a potentially inaccurate picture" of customers' feedback
- Pasta Evangelists is being looked at to see customers were offered discounts on future orders in exchange for leaving 5-star reviews on delivery apps.
Autotrader said: "We endeavour always to operate as a responsible and compliant business and will co-operate fully with the CMA's investigation."
The BBC has approached Just Eat, Feefo, Dignity and Pasta Evangelists for comment.
Sue Davies, Which?'s head of consumer rights policy, said: "Investigations are a welcome first step, but enforcement will be key: the regulator must be prepared to get tough, use its powers and issue serious fines if these companies aren't playing by the rules".
How to avoid fake reviews
The CMA has issued advice on how consumers can avoid fake reviews.
This includes tips such as reading the full review rather than simply looking at the star-rating.
It also warned about AI-generated reviews. If a review "feels a bit too slick, reads like it's been perfectly crafted" it may not be real. "Trust your instincts," the watchdog says.
It added that it was "unlikely" that a three or four-star rating was fake. "Someone might knock off a star because delivery was a day late or the packaging wasn't perfect, but still be very happy overall," the CMA wrote.
"If their minor gripe doesn't matter to you, you can be more confident the rest of their review is genuine."
The regulator also said that customers should check multiple sites rather than sticking with only one.
