CMA investigates Feefo in probe of ‘misleading and fake reviews’

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced it is investigating five companies, including customer-review platform Feefo, in “a crackdown on fake and misleading reviews”.

The CMA launched the investigations across sectors including food delivery, car sales and funerals last week, saying it marked “a step up” in its work “to tackle fake reviews”. However, it has previously served notice that it has the travel sector in its sights.

Feefo claims to work with more than 900 travel businesses, including British Airways, Jet2.com and Riviera Travel, and to have hosted more than 19 million consumer travel reviews.

The CMA said its investigation of Feefo involved the treatment of negative reviews and whether “one‑star reviews were not published” on a car sales platform and therefore “not counted towards star ratings”. The authority noted it “has not reached any conclusions about whether consumer law has been broken”. 

Posting fake reviews or paid-for reviews without identifying them as such, along with hiding negative reviews or presenting inaccurate star ratings became illegal from April last year under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) 2024.

The act also gave the CMA new powers to decide on and impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover for breaches of consumer law without having to go through the courts. 

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “We’ve given businesses time to get things right. Now we’re deploying our new powers.”

The CMA issued guidance on online reviews for businesses at the end of last August and, following a review of 100 businesses, wrote to 54 warning they should improve their compliance.

The travel sector was one of 14 sectors sent CMA ‘advisory letters’ on compliance with the DMCCA, urging them to review their practices. 

The CMA’s initial investigation into Feefo will not reach a conclusion until at least September and the authority stated: “At this initial stage, it should not be assumed that Feefo has infringed consumer protection law and no finding has been made.”

Interviewed for the Travel Weekly Insight Report, published in February, Deloitte UK legal director Luke Golding pointed out reviews “feature heavily” in travel and warned: “Travel has been in the CMA’s sights, and it has issued guidance that it’s looking at the industry.”

He noted the CMA launched its first consumer enforcement action under the 2024 Act in November and said: “I expect to see far more of that from the CMA.”