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FTC fake reviews rule

FTC rule on consumer reviewsfake indicators of social media influence

Last updated by The PanelCompare editorial team

Why does ftc fake reviews rule matter to a buyer?

The wording is direct: “the final rule prohibits anyone from selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence, such as followers or views generated by a bot or hijacked account” (FTC press release announcing the final rule, 14 August 2024, effective 60 days after Federal Register publication, verified 2026-09-11). The rule also bans fake and AI-generated reviews and gives the FTC authority to seek civil penalties against knowing violators. It reaches commercial actors who knew or should have known the indicators were fake and who misrepresented commercial influence.

The review categories are categorically worse than the follower ones and should be treated separately. Bought Trustpilot, Google and app-store reviews sit inside this rule and inside active private enforcement, and the equivalent regimes elsewhere are the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive as amended by the Omnibus Directive and the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which makes fake reviews a banned practice with direct CMA enforcement (PanelCompare domain research, 2026-09-06).

How does ftc fake reviews rule show up in a price list?

Review services appear in ordinary catalogue categories with the same unit trap as everything else: they are priced per review but occupy the per-1,000 column, so Trustpilot rows show as $2,000–$10,000 for what is $2–$10 each (PanelCompare domain research, 2026-09-06).

PanelCompare lists review-buying services for market-map completeness only and does not monetise them, and the same exclusion applies to any service aimed at damaging a named business or individual.

Think this definition is wrong?

Terminology in this market is set by the panels that use it, and it moves. If a panel uses ftc fake reviews rule to mean something other than what is written here, send us the listing and we will either correct the definition or record the variant. The process is on the about page.