Amazon promises to intensify crackdown against fake reviews after UK watchdog probe

Amazon has promised to step up its efforts in dealing with the issue of fake reviews and assured a crackdown on UK sellers boosting their ratings through bogus posts, the country's competition watchdog said on Friday (June 6).

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), after a four-year investigation, said that the Amazon's undertakings also addressed its concerns about 'catalogue abuse' where sellers use the reviews of well-performing unrelated products to boost ratings and mislead customers, according to a Reuters report.

Businesses that do not adhere to the rules can face a ban from selling on the e-commerce giant's platform altogether. Besides this users who post fake reviews could be banned from posting reviews.

Amazon promised robust processes to quickly detect fake reviews: CMA

The CMA said that the US giant also assured robust processes to quickly detect and remove fake reviews and catalogue abuse.

The competition regulator, which estimates that 90% of consumers use online reviews to inform purchases, began investigating Amazon and Google in 2021 over possible breaches of consumer protection law. It secured similar commitments from Google in January.

"These new commitments matter and help set the standard," CMA boss Sarah Cardell said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The US watchdog is carrying out an initial sweep of review platforms after the release of new reviews guidance in April. It seeks to identify platforms that may require more to comply with consumer law.

Under the new powers granted to the CMA, it can take an independent decision whether consumer law has been infringed and initiate action in case of breaches. The actions include issuing fines and ordering businesses to improve their practices.