The FTC fake review rule explained for small businesses

What the rule prohibits

Six practices, in plain terms.

• Fake reviews and testimonials: writing, buying or publishing reviews by people who do not exist, did not use the product, or misrepresent their experience. AI-generated reviews are explicitly included.
• Buying reviews: paying or offering anything of value for a review that must be positive, or must be negative about a competitor.
• Insider reviews without disclosure: reviews by officers, managers, employees or their relatives that do not clearly disclose the relationship, and companies soliciting such reviews.
• Company-controlled review sites: presenting a site you control as independent.
• Review suppression: using threats, intimidation or false legal claims to stop a review, or representing that the reviews shown are all or most of the reviews received when negative ones were suppressed.
• Fake indicators of social media influence: buying or selling followers, likes or views that misrepresent influence for a commercial purpose.

What it does not prohibit

Asking customers for reviews, as long as you ask regardless of expected sentiment. Responding to reviews. Removing reviews that are genuinely off-topic, defamatory or contain private information, where a platform's policies allow. Offering an incentive for any honest review, positive or negative, with the incentive disclosed, though many platforms ban incentives on their own.

Penalties and enforcement

Because this is a trade regulation rule, the FTC can seek civil penalties per violation (the amount is adjusted for inflation each year) in addition to orders to stop. Before the rule, the FTC generally had to prove a case under Section 5 without penalties. The rule also makes the practices easier to enforce against third parties who sell fake reviews or review suppression services.

Staying compliant as a small business

• Ask every customer, not a filtered list. Keep a record that you did.
• Never offer anything for a positive review. If you offer anything for a review at all, say so where the review appears.
• Tell staff and family not to review the business, or to disclose the relationship if they do. Platforms like RooVello detect and exclude insiders anyway.
• Do not use contract language that penalizes reviews. The Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 already voids it.
• Respond to negative reviews; do not threaten their writers.
• If you buy marketing services, ask in writing how they obtain reviews and refuse anything that involves writing or paying for them.

How RooVello is built around the rule

Request emails never mention stars or a goal and cannot be targeted by expected sentiment. Insiders are detected by email domain and excluded from scores. Every review carries its collection method and verification status. Removals carry a reason code and an appeal. These are product rules enforced in code, not policies in a help article.

Frequently asked

Does the FTC rule apply to a one-person business?

Yes. The rule applies to anyone selling products or services to consumers in interstate commerce, which in practice covers almost any business with a website or online listing.

Can my employees review my business?

Only with a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the relationship, and you may not solicit them to do it. On RooVello a reviewer whose email is on your domain is treated as an insider and excluded from the score.

Is it review suppression to flag a review I think is fake?

No. Reporting a review to the platform with a stated reason, for the platform to decide, is not suppression. Threatening the reviewer, or claiming a legal right you do not have, is.

Where is the rule published?

In the Code of Federal Regulations at 16 CFR Part 465. The FTC's own summary and the rule text are on ftc.gov.