FTC Reviews and Testimonials Rule

The FTC's 2024 rule (16 CFR Part 465) banning specific deceptive practices around consumer reviews — including fake reviews, undisclosed incentivized reviews, suppression of negative reviews, and certain forms of review manipulation. Civil penalties can reach over $50,000 per violation (2024 figure; the FTC updates the cap periodically for inflation).

Definition

The FTC's Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) went into effect October 21, 2024. It explicitly prohibits: fake reviews (written by people who didn't actually use the product/service), buying positive reviews, suppressing negative reviews through intimidation or threats, undisclosed insider reviews (employees or family without disclosure), review-hijacking (repurposing reviews from one product to another), and certain forms of review manipulation. Separately, the FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) continue to require disclosure of any 'material connection' between reviewer and business — including incentives for posting. Together, these create a baseline: don't fake reviews, don't suppress negative reviews, and disclose any incentive. Civil penalties have been recovered for related conduct; per-violation amounts are adjusted periodically for inflation.

Example

A plumber offers a 10% discount to customers who post a 5-star Google review. This violates both: (1) the Endorsement Guides because the incentive isn't disclosed, and (2) the Reviews Rule because conditioning the incentive on a positive rating constitutes review manipulation. The safer pattern is to offer no incentive at all — or, at most, a non-conditional discount on the next service (unrelated to reviewing at all) and disclose any incentive prominently if one exists.

Related terms

  • CAN-SPAM Compliance →Operating within the CAN-SPAM Act, the US federal law for commercial email. Requires accurate headers, a non-misleading subject line, a physical mailing address in the email, and a working unsubscribe mechanism. Statutory damages are up to $50,120 per non-compliant message (2024 inflation-adjusted figure; the FTC updates the cap periodically).
  • Review Gating →The practice of selectively soliciting reviews only from customers expected to leave positive ones, or discouraging unhappy customers from leaving public reviews. Google's content policy prohibits gating.

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