Feefo welcomes efforts to ‘clean up’ the reviews sector

Official efforts to clean up the ratings and reviews sector have been welcomed by Feefo.

Official efforts to clean up the ratings and reviews sector have been welcomed by Feefo.


The closed-feedback ratings and reviews platform was responding to reports suggesting that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills is considering banning the practice of writing or commissioning of illegal reviews.


This would require the many British companies that have posted fake reviews to take them down.


An online poll showed that 94% of responding readers supported such a ban.


This follows a commitment by the CMA last month to look into general concerns about the reviews sector such as removing negative reviews, posting fake positive review or making false negative reviews about competitors.


The CMA went as far as to require one UK firm to remove 86 reviews it wrote for small businesses across 26 different websites.


Research in recent years has estimated as much as a quarter of online reviews could be fraudulent, and a simple Google search reveals plenty of sites willing to post reviews online for a fee, according to Feefo, which works for companies such as Expedia and Monarch.


Company chief executive, Andrew Mabbutt, said: “Consumers deserve to be able to have confidence in the reviews they read.


“With Feefo, invitations to review are sent to consumers after purchase on behalf of businesses who want to hear the unmoderated feedback their customers provide.


“Businesses can only benefit from uncovering vital business insights, allowing them to respond directly to the voices of their genuine customers – resulting in a better deal for the consumer all round.”