Today the Bundeskartellamt has published the preliminary results of its sector inquiry into online user reviews. The consultation paper can now be commented on until 31 July 2020.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “Our investigations into online user reviews have shown one thing in particular: Websites and platforms have to take on a lot more responsibility for the reviews they publish. This would in particular involve providing a more targeted filter function for reviews and allowing marked product test reviews so that consumers can identify them. When looking for a product, doctor or holiday trip, many consumers rely on online reviews from other users. Online user reviews are also often significant when it comes to rankings of goods and services. However, reviews that were not written by real users, have a biased content or are filtered in a deceiving way can mislead consumers into making a wrong decision, which can also put companies not using dubious online user reviews at a disadvantage.”

Fake reviews are a hot topic of public discussion. For this reason the Bundeskartellamt's sector inquiry examined the operating methods of review systems, analysed the interests of the various market players, categorised the problem areas relevant in real life and formulated appropriate solution approaches.

The authority’s examination of operating methods used by review systems has revealed major differences regarding the way in which the various portals collect, filter and publish reviews. Only very few portals use special filters to identify fake reviews and have a systematic sanctioning mechanism in place. Most websites, however, perform an automatic or manual review checking only for insults, advertisements or violations of data protection regulations and double-check only those reviews that have been notified to them as critical after publication. This procedure sometimes leads to a disproportionately large number of negative reviews being deleted.

The authority’s examination has also shown that a large number of consumers want to read online user reviews, but only very few of them write reviews themselves in certain situations. At the same time, receiving a large number of online user reviews is beneficial for websites and providers as this increases their turnover. There is thus a “supply gap” for reviews. Review agents fill this gap, offering paid reviews. However, reputable agents in this area are increasingly ousted by dubious offers promising a “5 star guarantee” on social networks.

Andreas Mundt continued: “The problem of fake reviews is often associated with reviews written by computer programs (“bots”) or review agents. However, this generalisation does not reflect the actual tensions arising from the various interests and the portals’ various business models. Reputable review agents for example can contribute to the generation of meaningful reviews. The key is to provide transparency for consumers to see whether a review was generated via a review agent and thus to distinguish between reputable and dubious agents.”

The Bundeskartellamt categorised the problems it identified with respect to user reviews and developed differentiated solution approaches:

• Websites should be obliged to assume responsibility for reviews that are inauthentic or biased and refrain from publishing such reviews. To do this, they have to introduce special preliminary checks and use appropriate filter technologies. Some websites already perform such checks.

• Reviews are sometimes initiated by providing a product for testing free of charge or other incentives. Such reviews may be beneficial for consumers, but they must be marked accordingly to put them in the right perspective for the consumer, especially on trading platforms.

• The existing review systems of some websites lead to a distorted overall picture of the actual opinions, for example by making it considerably easier for users from a technical point of view to write a positive review than a negative review. Checks of reviews after publication can also distort the overall picture, because platforms tend to check and remove more negative than positive reviews due to corresponding complaints. Improved conditions for checking a review’s authenticity could help tackle this problem.

There is no public enforcement of consumer protection in Germany. For this reason the only option is to call upon the websites concerned to voluntarily implement the proposed measures. In addition civil law proceedings can be initiated to hold websites accountable for the reviews they publish. Among further matters requiring clarification is the question of responsibility for violations of existing regulations, as several parties are normally involved in the creation and distribution of a review: the platform, the manufacturer, a seller or service provider and probably also a review agent.

The Bundeskartellamt can carry out investigations in the area of consumer protection and identify shortcomings. However, it does not have the power to order the termination of infringements by official decree (see press release of 12 June 2017).

In May 2019 the Bundeskartellamt started the sector inquiry into online user reviews based on its competencies in the area of consumer protection which it has held since mid-2017 (see press release of 23 May 2019). In its inquiry the authority examined more than 60 major internet websites publishing user reviews for 16 different sectors and a large number of other market players. After assessing the comments the Bundeskartellamt will publish a conclusive report on its sector inquiry into online user reviews next autumn.

The consultation paper is available here (available in German only) [after the expiry of the consultation period the paper is no longer online. The results of the sector inquiry will be published soon].