A new information obligation for online retailers came into force on May 28, 2022. From now on, you must provide information on whether and, if so, how you ensure that customer reviews on your website or online store only come from consumers who have actually purchased the products or services being reviewed. Find out in this article when the new information obligation applies and how to implement it. We will also provide you with helpful sample wording.
What exactly does the new obligation to provide information on authentication procedures for customer reviews mean?
As part of the European Omnibus Directive, a new obligation to provide information on whether and how to verify the authenticity of customer reviews was introduced in the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) on May 28, 2022.
According to a new Section 5b (3) UWG, the following applies:
“Where a trader makes available customer reviews that consumers have made in relation to goods or services, information on whether and how the trader ensures that the published reviews originate from consumers who have actually used or purchased the goods or services shall be considered material.”
If you publish consumer reviews for your products and services, you will be obliged to do so in future under the new regulation,
- as a first step, to disclose whether measures are taken to ensure that the customer reviews displayed are genuine, i.e. originate from consumers who have purchased/used the rated product in the first place.
- If verification measures are in place, explain which processes and procedures you apply to check the authenticity of consumer reviews.
Important: The new information obligation does not force you to set up authenticity verification, but only to provide information on whether and, if so, how to set it up.
Are only verified customer reviews allowed to be published from now on?
No, there is no restriction to this effect in the new information obligation. You may also continue to publish unverified customer reviews in your online store or on your website.
The new directive only obliges you to inform potential customers whether and, if so, by what means customer reviews are checked for authenticity. This means that if you do not check your customer reviews, you are obliged to make this clear.
Who is specifically affected by the obligation to provide information?
All online retailers who publish consumer reviews on online stores or websites that they manage themselves are affected. The addressees of the new information obligation are therefore only operators of their own online stores and/or homepages on which they directly display consumer reviews themselves.
Sales appearances on marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon or Etsy are not affected. Also not affected are retailers who operate their own shop/homepage but do not publish consumer reviews there directly. If you only link to an external consumer review or an external collection of consumer reviews, you are not obliged to provide information.
Does the duty to provide information apply to customer reviews on Google, Facebook, eBay, Amazon & Co.
You only have to provide information about the authenticity of customer reviews if you make them available independently on web presences that you manage yourself. As a retailer, you are not responsible for customer reviews published on external sources such as Google, Facebook, eBay or Amazon. Instead, the operators of these marketplaces and social networks are required to implement the new requirements themselves.
Something else only applies if you refer directly to the external evaluation sources, for example:
- by integrating external customer reviews into your own website/online store
- by reproducing individual customer reviews verbatim on your own website/online store
Only then do you have to fulfill the information obligations yourself.
Does the new information obligation also apply where only an average rating (e.g. with an overall grade or with stars) is given?
No, the new obligation to provide information about the authenticity of customer reviews (only) applies where individual, individually written customer reviews are displayed. Designs that only display an average rating (such as an overall rating or star counter) do not yet trigger the obligation to provide information. You only have to comply with the new obligation where individual customer reviews are displayed.
Am I subject to the new information obligation if I integrate customer reviews via a widget?
Yes, if you integrate customer reviews via a widget, the new information obligation applies. This applies regardless of who provides the widget. Even if you use customer reviews from external platforms such as Shopvote or TrustedShops and display them on your website/online store, you must comply with the new information obligation.
Can "genuine customer reviews" be advertised if they have not been checked for authenticity?
No, this is absolutely not permitted. According to a new UWG directive, since May 28, 2022, it has been considered a core violation of competition law to claim that customer reviews originate from consumers who have actually purchased or used the relevant goods or services without taking reasonable and proportionate measures to verify their authenticity.
The general statement that customer reviews are genuine is inadmissible if it is not sufficiently ensured that they originate from a consumer who has actually purchased/used the product in question.
Does the new information obligation also apply to customer reviews that were published before the change in the law?
Yes. The new information obligation for authenticity verification also applies without restriction to customer reviews that were generated and published before May 28, 2022.
How can I fulfill the new information requirements if I use customer reviews from external platforms and don't even know the specific verification measures?
If you use a provider of external review platforms (e.g. “TrustedShops”, “SHOPVOTE”), the new information obligation creates a dilemma: you are obliged to provide information on whether and how the authenticity of the customer reviews displayed on your website/online store is verified. However, you do not know the necessary information on this, only the operator of the external review platform does.
As a retailer, you are therefore dependent on the assistance of the review platform provider to fulfill the new information obligations. However, they must provide the necessary information about whether and how customer reviews are checked for authenticity. This is the only way you can make this information available to your customers.
Many operators of rating platforms are already aware of this and have introduced measures to enable entrepreneurs to comply with the new information requirements. For example, “TrustedShops” provides instructions on how to implement this here, while “SHOPVOTE” informs its retailer customers here. If you embed the customer reviews on your website via a widget, the link to the information on the authenticity check will be displayed automatically.
Where should the new mandatory information be listed?
The new mandatory information must appear in a directly visible context with the displayed customer reviews. If a rating widget is used, the information must be clearly visible in it.
In addition, it is advisable to set up a separate subpage on your website/online store and display the information on authenticity verification there again. In the website’s side menu, for example in the footer, this subpage should then be linked via a separate menu item entitled “Information on the authenticity of customer reviews”.
How can I fulfill the information obligations if I use my own review system (incl. formulation examples)?
If you collect and publish customer reviews independently, you must comply with the new information requirements yourself and provide the relevant details. This information should also be displayed directly below a customer review and also appear in a separate item in the side menu of the website or online store with the title “Information on the authenticity of customer reviews”. Depending on whether and how the authenticity of the customer reviews is verified, different formulations can be considered. You can use the following sample formulations depending on the situation:
a) No verification of the authenticity of customer reviews
“The customer reviews are not checked for authenticity before they are published. They may therefore originate from consumers who have not purchased/used the rated products.”
b) Verification of the authenticity of customer reviews
“Every consumer review is checked for authenticity before publication to ensure that customer reviews only come from consumers who have actually purchased/used the products reviewed.”
The check is carried out [select as appropriate]
- by manual verification in the form of a comparison of the customer review with the order history in the merchandise management system in order to make a previous product purchase a necessary condition for publication.
- by sending individualized links after completing an order. These lead to an online evaluation form and ensure that access to the evaluation function is only granted to consumers who have actually purchased a product.
- by only allowing reviews to be submitted after logging in to a registered customer account that has been used to make a purchase.”
