Amazon and Google Investigated by UK for Not Removing Fake Product Reviews

[Tsing]

Image: Amazon



The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into Amazon and Google over concerns that they have allowed fake reviews to run rampant and turned a blind eye to unscrupulous sellers who have exploited them to gain an advantage over competing products. The probe follows an initial investigation opened by the CMA in May 2020, which looked into some of the systems and processes designed to address fake reviews and raised suspicions that Amazon and Google weren’t putting enough effort into stamping out the issue. Depending on what the CMA finds, Amazon and Google may be subject to court actions and hefty fines unless they change the way they do business.









“Our worry is that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations,” CMA chief executive Andrea...

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[Rusty Shackleford]

Lol... they don't give a crap. I've said it a hundred times. With these types of companies, it's far easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Far cheaper as well. Fines will have to be absolutely massive for Amazon to even blink an eye.

I have absolutely no idea what the laws are, especially in other countries, but it seems that stopping sales altogether would be far more effective against giants like Amazon. They can say they're doing whatever you want, but as long as they're continuing to do business they will drag their feet indefinitely. But if you restricted their sales completely, it would be fixed crazy fast.