Examples:

• • TechPro Corp. is caught paying a marketing firm to write hundreds of glowing reviews for their new laptop model from fake persona accounts.
  • Review Ultra Boost LLC sells packages of fabricated 5-star reviews to companies looking to boost their ratings on major retail sites.
  • Joe’s Unique Pizza pays a popular “foodie” influencer $1,000 to rave about their new gluten-free crust, which the influencer never actually tried.
  • The CEO of Acme Co. directs all employees to leave positive reviews for Acme’s products without disclosing their employee status.
  • Jane has her teenage son post a 5-star review of her hair salon without mentioning he’s the owner’s child and has never been a customer.

Compliance Tips:

• • Never create fictitious reviews yourself or pay/incentivize others to make fake reviews on your behalf. It’s not worth the legal risk.
  • Establish a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting employees at any level from posting undisclosed reviews and endorsements of your business.
  • If hiring influencers or endorsers, ensure they have actually used your product/service and that their statements reflect their honest opinions and real experiences.
  • Don’t assume using a third-party service protects you – if they provide fake reviews, your company can still be held liable.
  • Focus on encouraging authentic reviews from real, verified customers to build trust and compliance.

FAQs:

• • Does the ban on selling/buying fake reviews apply to individual reviewers too? The rule targets commercial sales of fakes by businesses, but individuals selling endorsements could still face FTC action for deception.
  • What if fake reviews are left for competitors, to make them look bad? “Negative” fakes are also illegal – the rule bars any review that falsely poses as a real consumer’s opinion.
  • How can the FTC prove a company “procured” fakes from insiders? Solid evidence like internal emails, financial records, and whistleblower testimony can demonstrate a company directed or paid for insider fakes.
  • Does using an AI chatbot to generate reviews violate the rule? Yes – AI-generated reviews are considered “fake” since they don’t reflect real human experiences.
  • How does this impact affiliate marketers? Affiliates must still disclose their relationship to the seller and can’t make false claims about their experience with the product.

Examples:

• • GetFit Sneakers offers a free pair of shoes to customers, but only if they promise to leave a 5-star review.
  • “Leave us a review telling us how much you love our service and get 20% off your next purchase!” says the card handed out by Patty’s Pet Groomers.
  • Employees at Frank’s Ford Dealership are told they’ll get a $50 spiff for each positive review they post about the new F-150, but get nothing for neutral or negative reviews.
  • Vera’s Vitamins sends an email blast to all recent customers saying “Leave us your honest review and be entered to win a $500 gift card!” without favoritism for positive reviewers.
  • Clean-O-Rama janitorial supply company files a complaint with the FTC after finding out their competitor has been offering $25 to their customers to trash Clean-O-Rama online.

Compliance Tips:

• • Make clear in your review solicitations that customers are free to share their honest opinions without any positive or negative bias.
  • Structure incentives as available to any reviewer, regardless of the rating or sentiment they provide. Don’t penalize critical comments.
  • Avoid language implying reviewers must say positive things like “Tell us how much you love our product!” Just ask for their honest, unfiltered thoughts.
  • Separate review generation from customer service – don’t imply that consumers must leave positive reviews to have their concerns addressed.
  • Have clear policies prohibiting review manipulation by employees at any level, with disciplinary action for violations.

FAQs:

• • Can I give out free products with hopes of getting good reviews? Yes, as long as you make clear there’s no obligation to leave a positive review – consumers must be free to share their honest opinions.
  • What if a reviewer promises a good review to get free stuff? Don’t provide any incentive to a consumer who indicates they’ll give a good review in exchange. That’s a prohibited quid pro quo.
  • Does offering loyalty points for reviews violate the rule? Loyalty rewards are a form of compensation, so conditioning them on positive reviews is not allowed.
  • How should I disclose incentives given for reviews? Have the reviewer clearly indicate something like “I received a free product in exchange for leaving this review.”
  • Can I give incentives for positive reviews if the text reveals they got something for it? No – even with a disclosure, tying incentives to review sentiment is deceptive.

Examples:

• • Carla, a sales rep for FreshFace Cosmetics, raves about their new mascara online without mentioning she works for the company.
  • Bob’s Burgers pays “everyday people” to record video testimonials praising their food without making them disclose the payments.
  • An ad for Shady Slim Diet Pills features before/after photos and weight loss claims from “Cindy,” who is actually the company’s receptionist.
  • The CEO of DermaDream Skin Care offers a free trip to the employee who gets the most friends/family to leave positive reviews, disclosed or not.
  • An influencer embedded a sponsor disclosure in the text below his video review, visible for only a few seconds unless users click “see more.”

Compliance Tips:

• • Require all employees to disclose their company affiliation in any online comments, social media posts or reviews about your business or products.
  • Have a clear policy that employees cannot post reviews at the direction of company officers without disclosing their employee status.
  • Any incentivized reviewers or endorsers, even if not employees, must conspicuously disclose that they received compensation.
  • Avoid using testimonials by employees or their immediate family members in your own advertisements and promotional materials.
  • Make sure any material connection disclosures are clearly visible, unambiguous, and appear close to the associated claims in your ads/reviews.

FAQs:

• • What counts as “clear and conspicuous” disclosure? Must be easily understandable and noticeable by a reasonable consumer, and as prominent as the associated claims.
  • Do employees have to disclose if posting reviews on their own? Yes, employees have to reveal their company relationship even if the employer didn’t direct them to post the review.
  • How can I monitor for undisclosed insider reviews? Be alert for reviews by people you know are employees/officers, or patterns like similar text posted from the same IP address.
  • What about testimonials from paid actors portraying customers? Using actors is okay as long as the ad doesn’t misrepresent that they are real customers and their experiences are typical.
  • Does a relative of an employee have to disclose that relationship? Not in all cases, but if the employee recruited a relative to write a review, that would likely require disclosure.

Examples:

• • BestMattressReviews.com, owned by Snooze Corp., purports to offer objective comparisons but only recommends Snooze Corp.’s products.
  • Ads for UltraWhite Toothpaste say it’s “approved” by the “American Institute of Dental Science,” an entity created and funded by UltraWhite’s maker.
  • The website TopKitchenGadgets.net, owned by Acme Blenders, says it “independently” tests blenders and consistently rates Acme #1.
  • BuyTheBestVacuums.com, a site controlled by CleanQueen Vacuum Co., has this disclaimer in small print at the bottom of its review pages: “Site operated by CleanQueen.”
  • AnimalLoversUnite.org, a pet food review site openly operated by Yummy Kibble brand, hosts reviews comparing Yummy Kibble to other brands.

Compliance Tips:

• • Clearly disclose your ownership or control of any review website, comparison site or other entity that evaluates your products against competitors’.
  • Don’t try to advertise a site or seal you control as being “independent” just because you hired an outside firm to create or run it.
  • Featuring only positive reviews or comparisons on your site is okay as long as you don’t misrepresent that the content is from an independent source.
  • Any affiliates or paid spokespeople must disclose their relationship to you when posting reviews, comparisons or endorsements on websites presenting as independent.
  • You can host genuine customer reviews on your own site, but make it obvious the reviews are submitted to your company-operated site.

FAQs:

• • Can I host reviews of my company on my site without identifying it as my site? No, your control/ownership of the site must be clearly disclosed.
  • What if our “independent review site” includes some negative reviews? The rule looks at the overall impression of independence, so some mildly critical content may not cure the deception if the site still presents as unbiased overall.
  • Does it violate the rule if my reviewers honestly say my product is the best? Accurately representing the reviewer’s honest opinion is not deceptive, but the site can’t mislead consumers about the reviewer’s relationship to you.
  • How prominent do the disclosures of ownership/affiliation have to be? Disclaimers hidden in small print, buried behind links, or otherwise easy to miss are not adequate.
  • What if the site acknowledges we sponsor it but presents as editorially independent? It may still violate the rule if the site misrepresents the degree of independence and control you exert over content.

Examples:

• • Bob’s Motors has the policy of automatically deleting all reviews of 2 stars or less, but still claims its website shows “all our customers’ reviews.”
  • GreatSleep Mattress Co. removes only negative reviews that mention competitor products by name, while leaving up positive reviews that reference competitors.
  • After Marie posts a detailed 1-star review on Yelp, the business owner calls her and threatens a libel lawsuit unless she removes her “false statements.”
  • Joe hires a reputation management firm to flood Google with positive reviews to drown out the negative ones, creating a misleading impression of his customer satisfaction.
  • A hotel threatens guests with a $500 fee if they leave any negative reviews or ratings under 4 stars, citing a non-disparagement clause in the fine print.

Compliance Tips:

• • Don’t filter, hide or delete reviews because they give your business low star ratings or negative feedback – let the authentic consumer voices shine through.
  • If you do suppress a review for a permitted reason like obscenity or falsehood, document why and apply the same standards to both negative and positive reviews.
  • Never threaten consumers with lawsuits, fines, or other adverse actions for leaving honest negative reviews. It’s illegal and unethical.
  • If you hire a reputation management company, make sure their techniques for improving your online image don’t involve flooding the web with fake positive reviews.
  • Respond professionally to negative reviews, apologize for service failures, offer to make things right – but don’t threaten or bully reviewers into removing posts.

FAQs:

• • Does this bar me from curating featured reviews on my site? You can highlight selected positive reviews as long as you don’t falsely claim they represent all submissions.
  • What if a bad review is hurting my business – can I explain my side? Yes, you can respectfully respond to critical reviews, but don’t bully or threaten the reviewer into removing it.
  • Am I permitted offer incentives to remove a bad review? Proceed with extreme caution – it’s okay to try to resolve complaints but incentives may misleadingly skew overall ratings.
  • What if the reviewer’s statements are provably false? You can remove clearly fake or false reviews. Have an impartial party determine if a disputed claim is actually false.
  • How do I handle reviews that mention my competitors? Don’t delete just competitor references – only remove content that violates your consistently-applied review standards.

Examples:

• • SocialBuzz offers a service to instantly deliver “5000 guaranteed Twitter followers” for $49.99 to anyone who wants to appear more popular.
  • Influencer Mark buys 100,000 fake YouTube subscribers from a Russian website to inflate his channel’s perceived reach to land more lucrative brand deals.
  • A teen heartthrob celebrity is revealed to have purchased millions of fake Instagram followers generated by bots and click farms.
  • FastFame LLC sells “100 real user likes” but actually delivers auto-generated likes from a single IP address that disappear after a week.
  • RealViews Co. sells genuine plays and watches from real accounts, disclosed as incentivized, to creators who want to boost visibility, not deceive.

Compliance Tips:

• • Avoid buying followers, likes, favorites, comments, views, or any other engagement metrics – build a genuine audience with authentic, quality content.
  • Perform diligence on any “audience growth” service promising immediate results to ensure engagements come from real people, not bots or fake accounts.
  • Be wary of sudden, unnatural spikes in followers, likes, or views with no clear source, as these may be fake indicators that could get your account flagged.
  • Don’t try to game algorithms by buying auto-plays, clicks or other fake interactions – the platforms are increasingly savvy at detecting and penalizing this.
  • Focus on earning genuine influence through thought leadership, audience interaction, and delivering value – not manufacturing fake buzz.

FAQs:

• • What about buying followers just to get started on a platform? Buying fake followers is still illegal even if you’re a new account. Focus on organic audience-building strategies.
  • If I buy fake likes/follows, do I have to disclose that? Disclosing purchased fake engagement wouldn’t make it legal – the practice is prohibited either way.
  • Does using a bot to automatically like/follow others violate the rule? Yes, using bots or scripts to generate fake reciprocal engagement is illegal and may get you suspended from platforms.
  • What are some indicators that an influencer’s followers are authentic? Look for unnatural patterns like a high percentage of default “egg” avatars, gibberish usernames, little content, or low engagement relative to follower count.
  • What if I bought fake followers before this rule – am I liable? Consult an attorney, but generally the FTC won’t pursue conduct that stopped before a new rule’s effective date. Stop buying fakes going forward.

Questions: The Rule Provisions

• • 1. The FTC’s review rule does NOT prohibit:
    • A. Writing your own positive reviews of your company’s products
    • B. Ordering employees to review your company without disclosing their status
    • C. Removing reviews that contain obscenity or harassment
    • D. Buying followers and likes from a social media bot service
  • 2. Under the rule, which of the following requires disclosure?
    • A. Reviews by a company’s owners and officers
    • B. Customer incentives in exchange for a review
    • C. Testimonials by a company employee in its own ads
    • D. All of the above
  • 3. The rule prohibits review suppression based on:
    • A. Word count
    • B. Star rating
    • C. Profanity
    • D. Mention of competitors
  • 4. A company would violate the rule’s ban on presenting itself as an independent review site if:
    • A. It explicitly states “This is an independent review site”
    • B. It implies independence through its name, web design and content
    • C. It has a small-print disclaimer admitting company ownership
    • D. Both A and B
  • 5. Which of the following social media indicators are considered “fake” under the rule?
    • A. Followers acquired through payola schemes
    • B. Bot-generated likes and comments
    • C. Views from hijacked user accounts
    • D. All of the above

Answers: The Rule Provisions

• • 1. C. Removing reviews that contain obscenity, harassment, or other prohibited content is still allowed under the rule as long as the same standards are applied evenly to all reviews. The other options are banned.
  • 2. D. Reviews and testimonials by company owners/officers, employees, and incentivized customers all require clear and prominent disclosure of the relationship. Fake reviews are banned outright.
  • 3. B. The rule prohibits suppressing reviews based on low star ratings or negative sentiment while claiming to present all reviews. Profanity, competitor mentions, etc. can be grounds for removal if applied consistently.
  • 4. D. Both explicitly claiming and implying independence on a company-controlled review site violate the rule’s prohibition on misrepresenting such sites as independent authorities.
  • 5. D. Any social media influence indicators not generated by authentic, autonomous human users are considered “fake” under the rule. This includes purchased followers, bot activity, and hijacked accounts.

Questions: Compliance Scenarios

• • 1. MegaCorp sets up “ConsumerReviewHub.com” to promote its products. Which disclosure would comply with the rule?
    • A. “Sponsored by MegaCorp” in small print at bottom of page
    • B. “Reviews independently selected by ConsumerReviewHub” at the top
    • C. Prominent “Owned and Operated by MegaCorp” banner on homepage
    • D. Disclaimers on an “About Us” page three clicks from the homepage
  • 2. Tasty Treats LLC wants to encourage customer reviews. Which incentive offer would be permitted?
    • A. “All 5-star reviewers get a free box of cookies!”
    • B. “Leave an honest review, get 20% off your next order!”
    • C. “Tell us how much you loved our snacks, get $5 off!”
    • D. “Your next order is free if you post a review (4 stars or higher only!)”
  • 3. Acme Autos asks employees to recruit friends/family to review it online. What must Acme do to comply?
    • A. No disclosure needed – friends/family aren’t employees
    • B. Instruct reviewers to disclose their connection to employees
    • C. Ensure reviewers don’t mention any car defects or service issues
    • D. Pre-screen reviews and remove any that are below 5 stars
  • 4. Vanity Cosmetics buys 50,000 TikTok followers for its official account. What must it do regarding disclosure?
    • A. Nothing – bought followers don’t count as “endorsements” needing disclosure
    • B.Post a disclaimer on its TikTok bio stating how many followers were purchased
    • C. Bought followers are banned even with disclosure – Vanity must remove them
    • D. It’s fine as long as at least 10% of Vanity’s total followers are authentic
  • 5. Shady Sam offers Jane $50 to remove her 1-star review of his store. What must Jane do?
    • A. Remove the review or Shady Sam can sue her for defamation
    • B. Remove the review but disclose she was paid to do so
    • C. Refuse the bribe and consider reporting Shady Sam’s illegal tactic
    • D. Counter that she’ll remove the review for $100

Answers: Compliance Scenarios

• • 1. C. ConsumerReviewHub must prominently disclose MegaCorp’s ownership on the homepage and wherever reviews appear. Small-print or hard-to-find disclosures are inadequate.
  • 2. B. Tasty Treats can offer incentives for writing reviews as long as they’re not conditioned on the review being positive. Options A, C and D improperly tie the reward to leaving a positive review.
  • 3. B. Acme must instruct recruited reviewers to disclose their connection to Acme employees. Banning mention of negative issues or screening out critical reviews would violate the rule.
  • 4. C. Buying fake followers is banned even with disclosure. They must remove the purchased followers and hone in on building an authentic audience.
  • 5. C. Jane should refuse Shady Sam’s bribe to remove her review, as this would be illegal review suppression. She may want to report this tactic to the review platform or proper authorities.