Google has agreed to take measures to identify and combat fake reviews of UK businesses following a 2020 probe by the country’s competition regulation watchdog – the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). It will also report back over the next three years to ensure compliance.
As published on January 24, 2025, in a CMA
press release, the five-year investigation concludes with Google’s implementation of these measures, which include:
- Sanctioning businesses that artificially boosted their start ratings by adding a “warning” label to their profiles
- Deleting fake reviews and banning the individuals who posted them from posting any new reviews
- Creating a robust reporting function for users who spot a potentially fake review
A similar investigation by the CMA into Amazon, launched the same year, is still ongoing.
According to the CMA’s own investigation, as much as £23 billion (GBP) of consumer spending within the UK could be influenced by online reviews each year. “Left unchecked, fake reviews damage people’s trust and leave businesses who do the right thing at a disadvantage,” said Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive.
“The changes we’ve secured from Google ensure robust processes are in place, so people can have confidence in reviews and make the best possible choices,” she added. “This is a matter of fairness […] and we encourage the entire sector to take note.”
Google will also take further measures to identify fake reviews. The company already implements a mix of artificial intelligence and human feedback for this purpose, according to a
2023 blog post by Dan Pritchett, Google’s principal software engineer.
“Reviews undergo rigorous scrutiny by our moderation systems before they’re published, but the work doesn’t stop there. Our systems continuously monitor contributed content and watch for suspicious activity over time,” wrote Pritchett.
Regarding the new measures implemented after the CMA probe, a Google spokesperson told media outlets: “Our work with regulators around the world, including the CMA, is part of our ongoing efforts to fight fake content and bad actors.”
Google has recently stepped up its measures to weed out businesses acting in bad faith worldwide, but these measures could have unintended consequences. Last November, Google implemented a change to local services ads worldwide, potentially impacting
millions of small businesses.
