Since October 2024 it has been illegal in the United States to write, buy, or sell a fake review. Not against a platform's terms of service — against federal law, with civil penalties that reach $53,088 per violation.
Most business owners we talk to have heard something about this and are not sure what it covers. The short answer is that it covers more than invented reviews from people who were never customers. It also covers a five-star review written by the owner's brother, a discount offered on the condition that the review is positive, and a threatening letter sent to a customer who left one star.
Here is what the rule actually says, in plain terms, and what it means for the way you collect reviews.
What the FTC rule covers
The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials took effect on 21 October 2024. It prohibits six things.
1. Reviews from people who never used the product
Writing, buying, selling, or distributing a review that misrepresents the reviewer's experience. This includes reviews generated by AI and reviews from a person who never used the product or service at all. It applies to the business that buys them and to the vendor that sells them.
2. Insider reviews that do not disclose the relationship
This is the one that catches honest businesses by surprise. A review written by an owner, a manager, an employee, or an immediate relative of any of them must disclose that relationship clearly. Without the disclosure, it is a prohibited insider review.
A restaurant owner who asks their staff to leave five stars is in scope. So is the owner who writes the review themselves from a personal email address, which is the most common version we see. The business is on the hook if it asked for the review or knew about it.
3. Incentives conditioned on the sentiment
You may offer a customer something to encourage a review. You may not offer it on the condition that the review is positive. "Leave us a review and get 10% off" is permitted. "Leave us a five-star review and get 10% off" is not, and neither is anything that makes the reward contingent on what the review says.
4. Suppressing negative reviews with threats
Using unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or false accusations to get a review removed. A demand letter from a lawyer claiming defamation, sent about a review that is simply unflattering, falls here.
The rule also prohibits presenting a partial set of reviews as if it were complete — publishing only the good ones on your own site while implying the collection is everything you received.
5. Company-controlled review sites posing as independent
Running or commissioning a "review site" that appears independent but is controlled by the business whose products it reviews.
6. Fake indicators of social influence
Buying or selling fake followers, likes, or views that misrepresent influence, where the buyer knew or should have known they were fake.
What the penalties look like
Civil penalties run up to $53,088 per violation. The FTC has been explicit that this can be read per fake review rather than per campaign, which is what makes the arithmetic uncomfortable: fifty bought reviews is not one violation.
Enforcement is not theoretical. In December 2025 the Commission sent warning letters to ten companies about possible violations, timed to the holiday shopping season, and said publicly that more would follow.
The three mistakes that catch legitimate businesses
Almost nobody reading this is running a review farm. The exposure for an ordinary business is much more mundane.
Reviewing your own business. A new listing with no reviews on it is uncomfortable, and writing the first one yourself is an obvious temptation. It is also the clearest example of an undisclosed insider review in the rule. We see this on our own platform often enough to recognize the pattern — a five-star review posted from an address at the company's own domain, usually within a day of the listing going up.
Asking only the happy customers. Sorting customers by how satisfied they seem and inviting only the pleased ones is called review gating. It produces a rating that misrepresents what your customers actually think, and where the business filters out the negatives to present the rest as the full picture, it is squarely in scope.
Rewarding the rating rather than the review. The distinction is narrow but it is the whole thing: you may pay for the effort of writing, never for the content of what is written.
What to do instead
The compliant version of collecting reviews is not complicated, and it produces a more useful rating anyway.
- Ask everyone, not a selection. If you invite customers, invite them on a rule — everyone from last week, every completed job — rather than by how the interaction felt.
- Ask soon, and ask once. The memory fades quickly, and a second chase reads as pressure.
- Send the request from you. A message from a number the customer recognizes gets answered. It also keeps the ask personal rather than automated.
- Reply to the bad ones in public. A calm, specific reply to a one-star review does more for a prospective customer than another five-star would. It is also the only lawful response to a negative review you disagree with.
- Keep the incentive, if any, unconditional. Same offer whatever the review says, and say so in the message.
Frequently asked questions
Are fake reviews illegal, or just against the rules?
Illegal, in the United States, since October 2024. Before that they were a platform policy problem and a state-law question; the FTC rule made them a federal one with civil penalties attached.
Can I ask my employees to review the business?
Only with a clear disclosure of the relationship in the review itself. Without it, an employee review is a prohibited insider review and the business is responsible for having asked.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
Yes, as long as it is not conditioned on the review being positive, and as long as the incentive is disclosed where required. Reward the writing, not the rating.
What can I do about a review I believe is false?
Report it to the platform, which is the route that exists for exactly this, and reply publicly with the facts. What you may not do is threaten the reviewer to get it taken down — that is itself a violation of the rule.
Does this apply outside the United States?
The FTC rule is US law. The United Kingdom has its own regime under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, and the EU addresses fake reviews through consumer protection law. The specifics differ; the direction of travel is the same everywhere.
Where this leaves you
The rule is not an obstacle to collecting reviews. It is an obstacle to faking them, and it happens to describe the method that works better anyway: ask every customer, take what they say, answer the criticism in public.
If you want somewhere to do that, your business may already have a page on Revaliew. Claiming it is free, and asking your first customer takes about a minute.
This article explains a federal rule in general terms and is not legal advice. The FTC's own questions and answers on the Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule are the authoritative source, and a lawyer is the right person to ask about your particular situation.
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