The UK competition watchdog has opened investigations into five companies, including Autotrader and Just Eat, over concerns they have failed to combat fake and misleading online reviews. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its latest crackdown also covers funeral services operator Dignity, review company Feefo and restaurant chain Pasta Evangelists.
In the cases of Autotrader and Feefo, the CMA is examining whether a number of one-star reviews moderated by Feefo were excluded from publication on the car-selling platform, potentially denying consumers a full picture of customer experiences. The Dignity investigation focuses on whether staff were encouraged to write positive reviews about the company’s cremation services. Just Eat is under scrutiny over concerns its system “inflated certain restaurants’ and grocers’ star ratings”, while Pasta Evangelists faces a probe into whether customers were offered discounts on future orders in exchange for five-star reviews on delivery apps.
“Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust, with many of us worrying about misleading content when looking at reviews online,” said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA. “With household budgets under pressure, people need to know they’re getting genuine information – not reviews or star ratings that have been manipulated to push them towards the wrong choice.”
The CMA stressed it had not reached any conclusions about whether the companies had broken UK consumer law, but the latest action brings the total number of businesses under review to 14. The investigations follow new powers granted under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which allow the regulator to determine breaches without going to court and to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
Consumer group Which? said the investigations were a welcome first step, but enforcement would be key. Sue Davies, head of consumer rights policy at Which?, said: “Fake reviews erode trust in the market and can be costly for consumers, honest businesses and the economy as a whole – which is why it’s important to ensure customer feedback is genuine and trustworthy.”
Responding to the probes, an Autotrader spokesperson said the company was cooperating fully with the CMA’s investigation, while Just Eat said it was working closely with the regulator to ensure reviews and ratings are clear and transparent. Feefo expressed confidence in its compliance frameworks and said its platform is engineered to ensure every review is rooted in genuine consumer intent.
