In November 2022, the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (“UOKiK”) fined two companies for publishing false reviews and ratings of products and services on online platforms. Such actions were deemed to infringe consumer collective interests and constitute unfair market practice.
Unfair practices
First case
- The company Opinie.pro offered entrepreneurs to obtain positive reviews, ratings and likes on comments on Google business cards, Facebook reviews, as well as on other price and service comparison sites, such as TripAdvisor. Such ratings and opinions were created without any contact with the product or service, but were based on information available on the internet or obtained in exchange for giving a positive opinion to others. Later, the company ordered opinions from contractors in Asia.
- The company advertised its services by saying: Buy Google reviews with ratings that positively influence the online perception of your brand. In addition, ratings enriched with a few positive sentences inspire more trust and look neutral. We take care to change browsers and mobile devices and ensure that ratings are issued from different IP addresses, which increases the credibility of the reviews.
According to UOKiK, such practices are contrary to the accepted principles of morality and distort or are likely to distort the consumer’s market behaviour, misleading consumers.
Under the President of UOKiK’s decision, Opinie.pro is to pay a PLN 40,000 fine (which amounts to approximately EUR 8,500). The company was ordered to cease the questioned activities and to publish UOKIK’s decision on its website and Facebook page for six months.
Second case
- SN Marketing posted reviews on Google Maps on behalf of businesses. It offered them in packages and the client chose the frequency of publication. The company created reviews without first checking the products or the reliability of the contractors. It was also possible to choose to like the reviews, elaborate texts or supplement the reviews with photos.
- This resulted in reviews such as: They know the job and the equipment, the guy I spoke to knew everything even though I don’t have a popular car at all and there are always problems. Here they completed everything in literally a split second. Fast and professional service for normal money. Gives 5 for the professional approach to their work. The reviews were given by the company from different accounts.
Under the decision, SN Marketing is to pay a PLN 30,000 fine and announce the decision on its website for three months.
UOKiK decisions are not legally binding.
Consumers make decisions based on reviews
UOKiK pointed out that social research conducted in 2020 shows that 93% of online shoppers are guided by product reviews posted by other consumers.
Most consumers believe that a high ranking or positive product reviews are rather or very important when shopping online (32% and 52% respectively). At the same time, three out of four respondents declare that they have heard of fake online reviews. Most consumers surveyed have a neutral attitude to them, but many are concerned that they may be guided by false opinions when choosing a product (28% and 19% rather or very concerned about this, respectively). Consumers most often do not check the veracity of opinions because they do not know how they can do so.
According to the President of UOKiK, it is important that reviews are genuine and credible, i.e., they come from people who have bought the product or used the service in question and are sharing their authentic experiences – either positive or negative. False reviews distort the market picture and are harmful to consumers, as well as to competition.
New rules
As from 1 January 2023, regulations implementing the Omnibus Directive, providing greater transparency in online shopping, are now in force in Poland.
One key change is the regulation of consumer reviews. Every trader who makes reviews available on their website should now provide details on how they verify their authenticity, i.e. how they check whether the review comes from a person who actually bought the product or used the service (if they do not carry out such verification, they should also directly inform consumers about it).
The new regulations are expected to facilitate enforcement of law, for the benefit of consumers.
The new regulations are expected to benefit consumers by facilitating enforcement of law and making it easier to combat false reviews.
For further information, please contact:
Pawel Lipski, Partner, Bird & Bird
pawel.lipski@twobirds.com
