We don’t know about you, but whenever we need some quality entertainment without fully committing to a good Netflix binge, it’s fun to dive into the reviews on various products on Amazon. Some of them are admittedly cautionary tales, but some of the five-star stuffs you find buried in review sections have been so over the top that there’s no way it could be an accurate reflection of that product. Turns out that the FTC agrees with that assessment, and has decided it’s time for a crackdown on fake reviews and phony social media followers in order to restore some sense of honesty and reliability to online shopping and digital commerce.
The new ruling went into effect on October 21st, and it prohibits any and all fake reviews. The FTC doesn’t discriminate, both AI-generated reviews and reviews written by an actual human who breathes oxygen are now on the nope list. Not only that, the FTC has stated that social media followers can no longer be purchased in the form of bots, which is bad news for influencers who have been relying on such things to boost their numbers to look more popular than they actually are. The beauty of this is that it will also crack down on those super nice-guy businesses that threaten customers to remove negative reviews, or just straight up pay people to write glowing (false) reviews of their product. What a time to be alive!
The overall goal of this FTC ruling is to restore some sense of transparency in the digital marketplace. Without transparency there is no trust from consumers, and outside of word-of-mouth from a person they know in the real world; people can’t trust that what they’re spending their hard-earned money on is actually what they’re getting. People getting scammed into buying “the next great thing” that turns out to just be an expensive paperweight isn’t exactly new, but legally enforced rules around the ratings and reviews that businesses can display will make a significant impact on the way that consumers research what it is they’re getting before clicking that shiny “add to cart” button. The new ruling also has the potential to benefit honest— and small— businesses who have busted their butts to earn each and every one of their positive reviews. Who doesn’t love it when your favorite mom-and-pop shop outranks the big box stores?
With the new ruling in effect, consumers should be able to already experience more confidence in their online shopping experience. That 4.5-star air fryer might actually be worth 4.5 stars instead of breaking after being used 3 times! When brands can’t hide behind over-inflated reviews and social media stats, everyone wins. Well, except for the brands who have been buying their positive feedback. If they want to stand out in the crowd, they’re going to have to work harder, just like everyone else. What a shame.
And lest you worry that this is another case of “it’s free if you’re rich”, the fine for getting busted with fake reviews is $54,744 per infraction. That’s more than companies had budgeted for buying fake reviews in the first place. The FTC has a streamlined process for ensuring that violators of the new policy are caught fast, which means that all those sketchy companies that have been getting away with fake engagement? They’re gonna have a bad time.
While we don’t envy the FTC of their new job of “comment section referee” that they’ll be undertaking; man, are we glad to see them rise to the challenge. It’s nice to know that the next time we’re looking for the next cool gift for our nieces and nephews maybe— just maybe— the reviews aren’t a total lie, and we’ll totally win "best gifter" at their birthday this year.
