{"id":68202,"date":"2016-03-04T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=31587632c98b98e305af54506ce3d33d"},"modified":"2016-03-04T10:01:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T10:01:00","slug":"press-release-cma-takes-enforcement-action-against-fake-online-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=68202","title":{"rendered":"Press release: CMA takes enforcement action against fake online reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>The Competition and Markets Authority\u2019s (<abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>) investigation into Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr> &amp; Marketing Ltd (Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr>), a search engine optimisation (<abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr>) and online marketing company, found that between 2014 and 2015 it had written over 800 fake positive reviews for 86 small businesses that were published across 26 different websites which contain customer reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr> has co-operated with the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s consumer law investigation. The company, and its directors, have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/cma-cases\/potential-fake-online-reviews-search-engine-optimisation-company\">undertaken<\/a> to the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> that they:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>have ceased the practice of writing fake reviews for their clients; and<\/li>\n<li>will take steps to remove the fake reviews already posted online.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition to this action, the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> has written to Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr>\u2019s clients to warn them that third parties writing fake reviews on their behalf might lead to them breaking the law themselves. The small businesses concerned include car dealers, mechanics, landscape gardeners and other tradespeople.<\/p>\n<p>The <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> has also produced a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/online-reviews-and-endorsements-advice-for-businesses\">written brief explanation<\/a> for businesses summarising how to comply with consumer protection law in relation to online reviews. In particular:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PR, marketing and <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr> companies should not write or arrange fake reviews on behalf of their clients; and<\/li>\n<li>businesses should not commission third parties to write fake reviews about them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This follows the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/online-review-sites-commit-to-improve-practices\">announcement last month<\/a> that, in a separate case, 2 websites for finding tradespeople and a further 3 care home review sites have agreed to improve their practices for checking and presenting online reviews, in response to concerns raised by the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>. <\/p>\n<p>Nisha Arora, <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> Senior Director, Consumer, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>With more than half of people in the UK using online reviews to help them choose what to buy, they are becoming an increasingly valuable source of information. Fake reviews can lead to people making the wrong decisions and fair-playing businesses losing out.<\/p>\n<p>Search engine optimisation companies, PR and marketing agencies provide a valuable service to businesses, but they must do this lawfully. Our enforcement action against Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr> makes clear that posting fake reviews about clients is unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">This is our latest action to ensure that consumers can trust in the opinions that they read on online, following the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s report last summer into online reviews and endorsements. In the next few weeks, we expect to announce the outcome of our investigation into unlabelled endorsements.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"notes-for-editors\">Notes for editors<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>The <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> is the UK\u2019s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For more information the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> see our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/competition-and-markets-authority\">homepage<\/a> or follow us on Twitter <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CMAgovUK\">@CMAgovuk<\/a>, <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cma-gov-uk\/\">Flickr<\/a> and <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/competition-and-markets-authority?trk=tyah&amp;trkInfo=tas%3ACompetition+and+Markets+Authority\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>\u2019s investigation and subsequent action in this case did not relate to the practices of any of the websites on which the reviews appeared. The <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> has taken steps to notify as many of the websites as possible that reviews were posted on their site.<\/li>\n<li>Search engine optimisation usually forms part of a business\u2019 online marketing strategy and involves increasing a website\u2019s visibility in search engines so that it appears higher in search results. <\/li>\n<li>The <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> has produced three <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/online-reviews-and-endorsements-advice-for-businesses\">60-second summaries<\/a> for businesses on how to comply with consumer protection law on online reviews and endorsements.<\/li>\n<li>On 11 February, after engaging constructively with the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr>, Checkatrade, Trustatrader, Carehome.co.uk, Care Opinion and Most Recommended Care all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/online-review-sites-commit-to-improve-practices\">agreed to improve their practices<\/a>. This was unrelated to the investigation into Total <abbr title=\"Search Engine Optimisation\">SEO<\/abbr>.<\/li>\n<li>As part of its call for information the <abbr title=\"Competition and Markets Authority\">CMA<\/abbr> produced an <span id=\"attachment_1442347\" class=\"attachment-inline\"><br \/>\n  <a href=\"\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/505161\/Infographic_on_consumer_spending_after_reading_online_reviews.jpg\">infographic<\/a><br \/>\n  (<span class=\"type\">JPEG<\/span>, <span class=\"file-size\">193KB<\/span>)<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n on consumer spending after reading online reviews.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/consumer-protection-from-unfair-trading-regulations-businesses\">Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008<\/a> (CPRs) contain a general prohibition on unfair commercial practices, in particular misleading and aggressive practices. They also contain 31 banned practices which are prohibited in all circumstances. It is a banned practice to falsely claim or create the impression that a trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business or profession, or to falsely represent oneself as a consumer.<\/li>\n<li>The CPRs are enforceable through the civil and criminal courts. Only a court can conclude whether a particular practice infringes the law.<\/li>\n<li>Enquiries should be directed to Siobhan Allen (<a href=\"mailto:siobhan.allen@cma.gsi.gov.uk\">siobhan.allen@cma.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>, 020 3738 6460) or Simon Belgard (<a href=\"mailto:simon.belgard@cma.gsi.gov.uk\">simon.belgard@cma.gsi.gov.uk<\/a>, 020 3738 6472).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A marketing firm has ceased writing fake online reviews for small businesses and will take steps to remove those already posted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}