Reviews and reputation guide 08
Since October 21, 2024, a federal rule bans fake reviews, rewards that depend on a review being positive or negative, undisclosed staff reviews, and threats or tricks to hide negative reviews. Businesses that knowingly break it can face civil penalties.
← All reviews and reputation guidanceNo fake reviews
No paying for sentiment
Disclose insiders
No fake review sites
No hiding bad reviews
Why this matters
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, found at 16 CFR Part 465. It took effect on October 21, 2024, and courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations.
The rule targets clear deception: fake reviews, paying for positive reviews, hiding insider reviews, and hiding or scaring off negative reviews. It does not ban asking customers for reviews. Asking only happy customers, called review gating, is not a specific provision of the rule, but the FTC says it could still violate the FTC Act, and Google and Tripadvisor ban it. This page summarizes the rule; confirm with a qualified attorney for your situation.
Responsible practices
Businesses may not write, buy, or post reviews or testimonials from people who don't exist, didn't use the product or service, or misstate their experience, when the business knew or should have known. The FTC's announcement says this includes AI-generated fake reviews.
Businesses may not offer money or other rewards for reviews that express a particular sentiment, positive or negative. The condition can be stated outright or implied.
Owners, officers, and managers may not post reviews of their own business without clearly disclosing the connection. They also may not ask employees or relatives to post reviews while discouraging disclosure or failing to tell them to disclose it. A general request sent to all customers is excluded.
A business may not present a website or organization it controls as an independent source of reviews for its own type of product or service.
A business may not use unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or false public accusations to stop a review or get one removed. It also may not suggest that the reviews shown on its own website are all or most of its reviews when negative ones have been held back because of their rating or tone.
Businesses may not buy or sell fake followers, views, or other fake social media indicators used to misrepresent how popular or influential someone is for a commercial purpose.
Worked example
These made-up examples show how the rule's main points apply to everyday situations. They are not legal advice.
Ask everyone, reward no one for a particular rating, disclose insider connections, and never threaten or hide honest reviews.
FTC rule
Stop any reward that depends on a positive review.
Tell staff and family not to review the business without disclosing the connection.
Label any testimonials page as selected, not all, reviews.
Never threaten a reviewer with legal action without an attorney's advice.
Remove any review your business wrote or paid for.
Confirm in writing that they never write, buy, or generate reviews for your business.
Show you any website review widget's filter settings, so negative reviews aren't hidden without your knowledge.
Confirm they don't buy followers, likes, or views for your accounts.
Avoid these mistakes
Customers decide what they write and review sites decide what stays up, so ratings, review counts, and removals are not guaranteed.
Questions business owners ask
It took effect October 21, 2024. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. The FTC adjusts penalty amounts for inflation, so check the FTC's current figures if you need them.
No. Generalized requests to all customers are fine under the rule. Review sites may have their own limits; Yelp, for example, says businesses should never ask for reviews.
The FTC's Q&A says the rule has no specific provision against asking only happy customers, but the practice could violate the FTC Act. Google and Tripadvisor also prohibit it. Ask every customer the same way.
The rule allows holding back reviews that contain, for example, private information, harassment, discriminatory content, or clearly false content, or that are unrelated to what you sell. What it prohibits is hiding reviews because they're negative while suggesting the rest are all or most of your reviews.
Primary guidance
Keep reviews honest