The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a fresh wave of investigations into fake and misleading online reviews, stepping up enforcement under new consumer powers introduced last year.
Five companies – Autotrader, Feefo, Dignity, Just Eat and Pasta Evangelists – are now under formal investigation, with the regulator examining how reviews are generated, moderated and presented to consumers.
The move follows the introduction of tougher rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which from April 2025 made several review-related practices automatically illegal, including fake reviews and undisclosed incentivised feedback.
While estate and letting agents are not currently included in this latest round of enforcement, the CMA’s focus on platforms that influence consumer decision-making is likely to raise questions across the property sector, where online reviews and ratings play an increasingly central role in winning instructions.
FAIR AND ACCURATE
The investigations centre on concerns that consumers may not be seeing a fair and accurate picture of services. Issues under scrutiny include the potential suppression of negative reviews, inflated star ratings, and businesses incentivising positive feedback without disclosure.
In one case, the CMA is examining whether one-star reviews moderated by Feefo were excluded from Autotrader’s platform and overall ratings.
Elsewhere, it is probing whether Dignity encouraged staff to post positive reviews, whether Just Eat’s ratings system inflated scores, and whether Pasta Evangelists offered discounts in exchange for five-star reviews without making this clear to users.
The regulator stressed that no conclusions have yet been reached on whether consumer law has been breached.
ENFORCEMENT POWERS
The action brings the total number of investigations launched using the CMA’s new direct enforcement powers to 14. These powers allow the regulator to determine breaches and impose remedies without going through the courts, including fines of up to 10% of global turnover.
The CMA said online reviews influence billions of pounds of UK spending each year, with the vast majority of consumers relying on them when making purchasing decisions. Previous research suggests up to half of reviews could be fake, underlining the scale of the issue.
CONSUMER TRUST
Sarah Cardell (main picture, inset), Chief Executive of the CMA, says: “Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust – with many of us worrying about misleading content when looking at reviews online.
“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.
“We’ve given businesses the time to get things right. Now we’re deploying our new powers to tackle some of the most harmful practices head on.”
The CMA said it will continue engaging with the firms under investigation, with outcomes ranging from case closures to enforcement action and financial penalties.
With the scrutiny of online reviews intensifying estate and letting agents – while not yet in scope – may find themselves under similar regulatory focus as enforcement expands.
