The Coalition for Trusted Reviews’ response to the CMA’s Unfair Commercial Practices Guidance

On Friday 4th April, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its guidance for Unfair Commercial Practices, ahead of the regulator’s enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act coming into force on 6th April.

In response to the new guidance, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Trusted Reviews said: 

“The Coalition for Trusted Reviews welcomes the CMA’s new guidance on tackling fake reviews, marking a significant step towards strengthening consumer protections and raising industry standards in-line with its own efforts.

Trust in online reviews is essential for consumers and businesses alike. We support the UK’s explicit ban on the writing and commissioning of fake reviews. This puts focus on the bad actors who deliberately mislead consumers, and reinforces the importance of collaboration between industry, regulators and governments to tackle fake reviews.

As a leading voice in promoting best practice and trust in online reviews, we endorse the CMA’s flexible, principles-based approach to platform requirements, which recognises the diversity of businesses that host reviews rather than a one-size-fits-all model.

We welcome Sarah Cardell's confirmation that the CMA will allow time for compliance. This is a pragmatic approach to enforcement given that for many firms, the guidance entails new requirements.

We are reviewing the revised guidance in detail and look forward to continuing our work with the CMA and industry partners to uphold the highest standards of trust and integrity in online reviews.”