CMA Launches Fake Review Investigations Into 5 UK Businesses Including Autotrader and Just Eat
What happened
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched formal investigations into five UK businesses over fake and misleading reviews: Autotrader, Feefo, Dignity, Just Eat, and Pasta Evangelists.
The investigations cover different parts of the review ecosystem:
- Autotrader and Feefo — whether 1-star reviews moderated by Feefo were suppressed from Autotrader's platform and excluded from star ratings
- Just Eat — whether its ratings system inflated certain restaurants' star ratings, giving consumers a misleading picture of quality
- Dignity — whether staff were asked to write positive reviews about the company's crematoria services
- Pasta Evangelists — whether customers were offered discounts in exchange for 5-star reviews without disclosing the incentive
These are the first investigations using the CMA's new direct enforcement powers under the DMCC Act 2024, which made fake reviews a banned practice in April 2025. The CMA can now decide whether consumer law has been broken and impose fines — without going through the courts.
CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said: "Fake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust."
What this means for tradespeople
This sends a clear signal: the regulatory environment around reviews has fundamentally changed. The practices being investigated — suppressing negative reviews, inflating star ratings, and incentivising 5-star reviews — are exactly the tactics that have historically distorted competition in the trades sector.
If you've ever lost a job to a competitor whose 200 five-star reviews looked suspiciously perfect, the CMA is now actively investigating this kind of manipulation. Fines can reach up to 10% of global turnover.
For honest tradespeople who collect reviews the right way, this is a levelling of the playing field. The businesses being investigated are household names — which means the enforcement isn't just symbolic.
What to do about it
Make sure your own review practices are compliant. Under the DMCC Act, you cannot offer discounts, freebies, or any other incentive in exchange for reviews. You also cannot selectively suppress negative reviews or ask customers to mention staff names.
The safe approach: ask every customer for a review after the job, make it easy (a WhatsApp link works), and never filter by sentiment. TapReview is a £9/month tool that helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews by sending automated review requests via WhatsApp and SMS after every job — fully DMCC-compliant.
The CMA expects to update on these investigations in September 2026.
Source: GOV.UK / CMA