Investigation by the EU Commission: Online ratings often not verifiable

As of: 01/20/2022 6:40 p.m

Many online shops build their success on positive customer reviews. But how reliable are these ratings? The EU Commission expresses doubts – based on a recent investigation.

According to research, customer reviews on numerous websites in the EU may not be trustworthy. According to the EU Commission, there are doubts about almost two thirds of the websites examined.

For the report, national consumer protection authorities examined 223 websites such as online shops, search engines and price comparison services. According to the information, the authorities could not confirm for 144 pages that it was sufficiently checked whether customers actually used the products before an evaluation was published. Specific names of the sites were not mentioned.

“A Clear Call to Action”

“Today’s results are a clear call for action,” said EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. It also said that 104 of the 223 websites did not provide information on how reviews are collected and processed. 118 pages contained no information on how to prevent fake reviews. According to the EU Commission, at least 55 percent of the websites checked may violate the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. In order for the websites to be corrected, the national authorities should now contact the dealers concerned.

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