UK online reviews: what the law allows

Since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has banned fake consumer reviews, reviews that conceal an incentive, and publishing reviews in a misleading way. Businesses that publish reviews must also take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent and remove fake and concealed incentivised reviews. This page sets out what the law says, what the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidance adds, and what enforcement has happened so far, with every point linked to the primary source.

Which law covers online reviews in the UK?

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) bans specific review practices outright, and the CMA has published guidance on how it applies them.

The review rules are in paragraph 13 of Schedule 20 to the DMCCA, the list of commercial practices that are banned in all circumstances. Paragraph 13 came into force on 6 April 2025 (S.I. 2025/272), according to the commencement note on legislation.gov.uk.

The CMA published its fake reviews guidance (CMA208) on 4 April 2025. The guidance describes the banned practices as automatically unfair and illegal (para 1.1). The government’s summary for businesses, What businesses need to know about unfair commercial practices, confirms the changes came into force on 6 April 2025.

What exactly is banned?

Paragraph 13 bans four things: writing or commissioning fake or hidden-incentive reviews, publishing reviews misleadingly, publishing reviews without reasonable checks, and selling services that help with the first two.

Source: DMCCA 2024, Schedule 20, paragraph 13.

How does the Act define a fake review?

• A consumer review is a review of a product, a trader or any other matter relevant to a transactional decision.
• A fake consumer review is one that purports to be, but is not, based on a person’s genuine experience.
• A review conceals the fact it has been incentivised if someone was commissioned to submit or write it and that fact is not made apparent.
• Publishing in a misleading way includes failing to publish, or removing, negative reviews while publishing positive ones (or vice versa); giving positive reviews greater prominence than negative ones (or vice versa); and omitting information relevant to the circumstances in which a review was written.

Source: paragraph 13(5). The CMA guidance treats reviews generated by software such as bots as fake (CMA208 para 3.5 and 6.1).

Can a business offer an incentive for a review?

Yes, as long as the incentive is clearly disclosed, the review still reflects the reviewer’s genuine experience, and the reward does not depend on the review being positive.

The CMA guidance says traders are free to incentivise reviews if they disclose the incentive and the review still reflects a genuine experience (para 3.7). Disclosure should be clear, usually by labelling the review as an advert (para 3.5).

The guidance gives examples of what crosses the line (para 3.5): offering a reward in exchange for a five-star review is commissioning a fake review, even if disclosed, and offering a refund on condition that a customer changes a negative review is not allowed.

Can a business only ask happy customers for reviews?

No. Inviting reviews from customers generally is allowed, but encouraging only satisfied customers to leave reviews is treated as cherry-picking, which can make the overall picture misleading.

The CMA guidance says simply emailing customers generally to ask for a review is not prohibited (para 3.6). It says cherry-picking can happen by encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews (para 4.5), and warns against arbitrarily stopping and starting review invitations (para 4.4(a)(iii)) or preventing genuine users from leaving reviews (para 4.4(a)(ii)).

The CMA’s guidance for online review sites (3 September 2025) adds that reviews should not be collected only from customers known to be satisfied unless they are clearly labelled as testimonials (hand-picked testimonials are not the same as an open review feed, and presenting them as one could mislead), that dispute resolution should not depend on a customer not leaving a negative review, and that customers should not be steered towards making a complaint instead of a public review.

Can a business remove or hide negative reviews?

Not simply because they are negative. Selectively suppressing genuine negative reviews while publishing positive ones is a misleading practice, but reviews can be removed for legitimate reasons, such as being fake or unlawful, under moderation rules applied consistently to positive and negative reviews.

Paragraph 13(5) gives failing to publish, or removing, negative reviews while publishing positive ones as an example of publishing reviews in a misleading way.

The CMA guidance says genuine negative reviews should not be suppressed, edited, withheld or removed (para 4.4(b)), and that publishers should not remove a review merely because a trader objects to it (para 8.22(b)). It also says a negative review intended for publication should not be treated as a complaint and left unpublished (para 8.11(c)). Fake reviews, whether positive or negative, should be removed (para 4.4).

The guidance refers to publishing genuine, lawful and relevant reviews (CMA208 para 8.16), and the guidance for online review sites asks publishers to explain why a review might not be published and to apply checks of appropriate rigour to both positive and negative reviews. A review should not be removed just because it is critical.

Can staff or people connected to a business write reviews?

Only with great care. A review written at the business’s request is a commissioned review and must be disclosed, but disclosure alone does not make a review lawful: it must still reflect a genuine experience and must not mislead consumers.

The CMA guidance says that where a trader asks staff to write reviews, this is commissioning and must be disclosed (para 2.10), and that leaving out a reviewer’s financial interest, for example as an employee or shareholder, is misleading (para 4.6). It also says a review of a product bought as a gift by a friend can still be genuine (para 2.7).

A review that is not based on a genuine experience is a fake consumer review under paragraph 13(5) whether or not a connection is disclosed, and the government’s summary for businesses says traders must not pretend to be a consumer leaving a review. Staff should not be asked to pose as ordinary customers.

One of the investigations the CMA opened in March 2026 concerns whether Dignity asked staff to write positive reviews of its crematoria services. The CMA has not found that Dignity broke the law (CMA, 27 March 2026).

What must websites and platforms that show reviews do?

Any business that publishes consumer reviews, from a large platform to a small firm showing customer reviews on its own website, must take reasonable and proportionate steps to stop and remove banned reviews.

The duty comes from paragraph 13(3). The CMA guidance says traders that display reviews on their own media, such as retailer websites, are publishers, as are review sites, online marketplaces, search services and social media (para 8.3). Even a small trader publishing its own customers’ reviews should have measures in place where their content poses a risk (para 8.31). The steps expected depend on the circumstances (para 8.7).

The guidance and the CMA’s guidance for online review sites expect publishers to:

• have a plain-English, readily available policy that prohibits fake reviews and explains their approach to incentivised reviews (CMA208 paras 8.9 and 8.10);
• explain how reviews are collected and checked, and why a review might not be published (review sites guidance);
• publish all genuine, relevant and lawful reviews, promptly, and keep aggregate ratings accurate (review sites guidance);
• not give businesses the right to block reviews they dislike (review sites guidance);
• correct AI-generated review summaries that rely on banned reviews (CMA208 para 8.24(b)).

What have Google and Amazon agreed to do about fake reviews?

Both have given formal undertakings to the CMA to detect and remove fake reviews and to sanction businesses and reviewers that use them.

Sources: CMA press releases linked above and the CMA online reviews case page.

What are the penalties for breaking the rules?

Under its direct enforcement powers, the CMA can fine a business up to £300,000 or 10% of its turnover, whichever is higher. These are maximum amounts; the fine in any case depends on the circumstances.

The table shows maximum penalties, not standard fines. Further sources: CMA press release, 7 April 2025; CMA press release, 27 March 2026. The government’s summary for businesses says enforcement authorities, of which the CMA is one, can act, that the CMA and the courts can impose fines, and that businesses may also have to compensate affected consumers.

What has the CMA done on reviews so far?

After the rules came in, the CMA wrote to dozens of businesses, issued sector guidance and, in March 2026, opened five investigations; none had reached a finding at the time of review.

An investigation does not mean a business has broken the law. The CMA’s Autotrader case page, for example, states that it should not be assumed that Autotrader has infringed consumer protection law.

Sources

1. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20, paragraph 13. legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). Accessed 1 November 2026.
2. Fake reviews (CMA208), 4 April 2025. Competition and Markets Authority. Accessed 1 November 2026.
3. Fake reviews (publication page). Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
4. What businesses need to know about unfair commercial practices. GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
5. CMA to boost consumer and business confidence as new consumer protection regime comes into force, 7 April 2025. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
6. Reviews: guidance for online review sites, 3 September 2025. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
7. CMA secures important changes from Google to tackle fake reviews, 24 January 2025. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
8. Amazon gives undertakings to CMA to curb fake reviews, 6 June 2025. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
9. Online reviews (case page). Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
10. Online consumer reviews (case page). Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
11. Fake and misleading reviews: 5 businesses under CMA investigation, 27 March 2026. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
12. Autotrader: consumer protection enforcement case. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
13. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 182 (Final infringement notice). legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). Accessed 1 November 2026.
14. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 198 (Final false information enforcement notice). legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). Accessed 1 November 2026.
15. How the CMA uses its direct consumer enforcement powers, 28 August 2025. Competition and Markets Authority, GOV.UK. Accessed 1 November 2026.
16. Consumer protection: enforcement guidance (CMA58), 4 April 2025. Competition and Markets Authority. Accessed 1 November 2026.