Amazon and Google are being investigated over concerns that fake five star reviews on their websites could be misleading shoppers and could face court action for breaking consumer law.
The Competition and Markets Authority, CMA is also worried that “law-abiding businesses” who sell over Amazon and Google may be losing out to firms using false recommendations.
The CMA has launched the formal probe after an initial investigation last year examined whether online companies were doing enough to protect consumers.
In particular, the CMA is concerned about whether Amazon and Google have been “doing enough” to “detect fake and misleading reviews or suspicious patterns of behaviour”.
CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli expressed worry thatmillions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations,.
She added that it was important that these tech platforms take responsibility stating that the body stands ready to take action if it was found that they are not doing enough.
Online shopping has soared during the Covid pandemic as retailers deemed as “non-essential” have been forced to close physical shops during periods of lockdown.
Meanwhile, both firms say they have resources and policies in place to stop fake reviews. A spokesman for Amazon said the company devoted “significant resources to preventing fake or incentivised reviews from appearing in our store”.
Google said that its policies state “reviews must be based on real experiences” and where it finds violations, they take action including disabling user accounts.
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