Amazon (AMZN) Enhances Measures Against Fake Reviews
LONDON (Reuters) - Amazon has pledged to strengthen its efforts in combating fake reviews, including taking action against British businesses that artificially inflate their ratings through fraudulent posts, according to the UK's competition watchdog.
After a thorough four-year investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated that Amazon's commitments also addressed concerns regarding 'catalogue abuse,' where sellers misuse reviews of unrelated high-performing products to mislead customers.
Businesses that violate these rules could face permanent bans from Amazon's platform, while individuals posting fake reviews risk being prohibited from making future posts.
In addition, Amazon has agreed to implement stringent processes for swiftly identifying and removing fake reviews and instances of catalogue abuse, as reported by the CMA.
The regulator, which estimates that 90% of consumers rely on online reviews for their purchasing decisions, initiated investigations into Amazon and Google in 2021 for potential violations of consumer protection laws. Similar commitments were obtained from Google in January.
“These new commitments matter and help set the standard,” said CMA boss Sarah Cardell in an official statement.
Following the release of new guidelines for reviews in April, the CMA is currently conducting an initial review of review platforms to identify those that may need to enhance their compliance with consumer laws.
With newly granted authority, the CMA can independently determine if consumer laws have been violated and take appropriate actions, including imposing fines and mandating businesses to improve their practices.
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