Google has agreed to make significant changes to its processes for tackling fake reviews, with the tech giant committing to place ‘warning’ alerts on the profiles of UK businesses that use fake reviews to boost their star ratings.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had secured Google’s agreement to put in place enhanced processes to tackle fake reviews written about businesses and services, as well as to enforce sanctions deterring firms that try to benefit from fake or misleading reviews.

The CMA had initially opened an investigation into both Amazon and Google back in 2021 over concerns that they had not been doing enough to combat and remove fake reviews on their sites, or act on suspicious patterns of behaviour.

Google will now take a more robust approach to detecting and removing fake reviews, including beefing up the consequences for ‘rogue reviewers’ not just in the UK but around the world, which could see individuals who consistently post this type of content permanently banned from leaving reviews.

There will also be consequences for UK companies that try to boost their star ratings, with prominent warning notices added to their Google profiles to flag to consumers that suspicious activity has been detected. 

Businesses found to be creating or promoting fake reviews will also have their review functions deactivated, meaning they cannot receive any new ones, with firms that repeatedly engage in this kind of activity having all their reviews deleted for six months or more.

The move could have a major impact, with research from Which? showing that 89% of consumers use online customer reviews when researching a product or service, and as much as £23 billion of UK spending is potentially influenced by online reviews every year.

Google has also agreed to develop a reporting function that allows consumers to easily and quickly report concerning reviews.

According to the CMA, this includes the ability to report ‘incentives’, for example any payments or rewards in exchange for positive reviews, which will apply regardless of whether the incentive is offered in person or online.

To ensure Google is complying with the undertakings it has signed, the firm will report to the CMA over a three-year period.

“When it comes to tackling fake reviews, Google is leading the way,” said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA.

“The changes we’ve secured from Google ensure robust processes are in place, so people can have confidence in reviews and make the best possible choices. They also help to create a level-playing field for fair dealing firms. This is a matter of fairness – for both business and consumers – and we encourage the entire sector to take note.”

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Last year, parliament passed legislation giving the CMA more consumer powers, which when enforced later this year will give the regulator the ability to independently decide when consumer law has been broken, without taking a case to court.  

Google’s agreement to meet the CMA’s terms follows the competition watchdog launching a series of other investigations aimed at the tech giant since the beginning of the year.

Yesterday, the CMA announced it had begun investigating the dominance of both Google and Apple in the mobile ecosystem, while earlier this month the authority said it was using its powers to assess Google’s control over the search market.