Amazon, Google Faces Formal Probe Over Fake Reviews From UK Regulator

Amazon and Google will be investigated by the CMA if they have broken consumer law by not doing enough to remove fake reviews.

By Reuters | Updated: 25 June 2021 13:09 IST

Amazon, Google Faces Formal Probe Over Fake Reviews From UK Regulator

Amazon's systems had failed adequately to prevent sellers from manipulating product listings

Highlights

The Competition and Markets Authority will now gather further information
An initial CMA investigation was opened in May 2020
The investigation assessed several platforms' internal systems

Britain's competition regulator on Friday opened a formal investigation into Amazon and Alphabet's Google over concerns the tech giants have not done enough to combat fake reviews on their sites.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will now gather further information to determine whether the firms may have broken consumer law by taking insufficient action to protect shoppers from fake reviews.

The move comes after an initial CMA investigation, which opened in May 2020, and assessed several platforms' internal systems and processes for identifying and dealing with fake reviews.

Big Tech Antitrust: US Panel Votes Yes on 'Break 'Em Up' Bill

The regulator said it was also concerned that Amazon's systems had failed adequately to prevent and deter some sellers from manipulating product listings, through for example co-opting positive reviews from other products.

“Our worry is that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations," said CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli.

"Equally, it's simply not fair if some businesses can fake 5-star reviews to give their products or services the most prominence, while law-abiding businesses lose out."

Amazon’s Use of Data Faces Investigation From British Watchdog: Report

© Thomson Reuters 2021

What were the best games at E3 2021? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.