Fake Review Policy

Genuine Reviews Only – No Fake or Misleading Reviews

Fake reviews are strictly prohibited. All reviews must be based on an actual customer’s genuine experience with the product or service reviewed. The following practices are banned on the REVIEWS.io platform:

Submitting or facilitating fake reviews: No one may post a review under a false or borrowed identity, or a review about a product/service they have not genuinely used. Businesses must not commission, solicit or buy fake positive reviews to boost ratings, nor fake negative reviews to harm competitors. REVIEWS.io will never provide or permit any service that manufactures or publishes fake reviews on behalf of anyone.
Incentivising fake or biased reviews: Businesses must not offer money, gifts, discounts, or other inducements in exchange for reviews that are not representative of the reviewer’s actual experience. Writing or encouraging a fake review in return for an incentive is forbidden. (Legitimate incentives for reviews are allowed only if the incentive is disclosed and the review remains honest – see Incentivized Reviews below).
Misleading presentation of reviews or ratings: We do not allow any manipulation of how reviews or aggregate ratings are presented that could mislead consumers. This means no suppression or cherry-picking of genuine reviews. A business cannot hide or remove negative reviews simply because they are negative, nor highlight only positive reviews in a way that creates a false impression. All genuine reviews, whether positive or negative, should be visible and factored into overall ratings. REVIEWS.io’s platform is built on transparency and does not permit deletion of genuine, factual reviews from company profiles, regardless of star rating. Likewise, any summary ratings or widgets displayed must reflect an accurate and unbiased collection of all relevant reviews (see Transparency in Display below).
Consumer review information must not mislead: Any aggregated ratings, rankings, or review snippets derived from customer reviews must be truthful and not presented out of context. For example, a widget displaying an average rating on a client’s website must include all reviews in the calculation and not omit low ratings to inflate the score. We will not allow “selective” publication of review content that misrepresents the overall customer sentiment.

Any attempt to engage in the above banned practices is a serious violation of this policy. REVIEWS.io and our clients share responsibility for ensuring no fake or misleading reviews appear on our platform.

Verified and Invited Reviews

REVIEWS.io primarily uses a verified review system to collect authentic feedback. Businesses using our platform send review invitations via email or SMS to customers who have actually made a purchase or transaction. Reviews written in response to these invitations are tagged with a “Verified Buyer” badge on our website. This indicates the reviewer is a genuine customer confirmed by a recent transaction. Verified Buyer reviews are crucial to building trust and are also required for certain integrations (e.g. Google Seller Ratings). We and our clients must adhere to Google’s licensed partner standards for review collection, meaning only real customers are invited and we do not filter who gets invited based on expected sentiment.

No pre-screening for sentiment

Invitations are sent to customers regardless of whether their experience was positive or negative. Clients cannot hand-pick only happy customers to invite while ignoring others – such cherry-picking is not allowed. REVIEWS.io’s invite flows are designed to be fair and automate the process to avoid bias. Every invited customer has an equal chance to share their honest feedback. No review gating or suppression is permitted (i.e. businesses may not use our tools to first ask customers privately about satisfaction and then invite only those who report positive experiences). This ensures the reviews we collect via invitations give a balanced and genuine view of customer opinion.

Verified Buyer label

When a review is marked “Verified Buyer,” it assures readers that the reviewer’s purchase has been confirmed. This label appears publicly on the review to provide transparency. It also means the review counts toward Google’s Seller Ratings (assuming other Google criteria are met). REVIEWS.io reserves the right to require proof of purchase or other verification if there is any doubt about a reviewer’s authenticity. Reviews that cannot be verified may be rejected or labelled appropriately to maintain trust.

Open Reviews (Uninvited Reviews)

In addition to invited reviews, REVIEWS.io supports open reviews on client profile pages. This feature (the “Write a Review” form on a company’s public profile) allows any customer to leave a review without an invitation. Open reviews increase transparency by letting all consumers voice their opinion, not just those who receive invites. However, to uphold authenticity standards, the following rules apply to open reviews:

Genuine customers only: Even if not invited, the reviewer must still be a real customer with direct experience of the business. Writing a review on a profile page without having purchased or used the service is not allowed. If we suspect an open-submission reviewer did not actually transact with the company, we may seek verification or remove the review as fraudulent.
Identification and labelling: REVIEWS.io will indicate when a review was not tied to a verified purchase (for instance, such reviews may simply lack the “Verified Buyer” badge). All users reading the profile can distinguish verified (invited) reviews from unverified ones. Both types are visible on the profile, but only verified purchase reviews count toward Google integrations.
No selective disabling to skew feedback: Businesses have the option to enable or disable the open review form on their profile. This setting should be used consistently to improve the review collection process, not to selectively silence customers. Disabling open reviews altogether is allowed (some clients may prefer to only gather verified feedback via invites), but a client must not toggle this feature on or off in bad faith (e.g. turning off open reviews during a period of anticipated negative feedback). REVIEWS.io expects clients to act in good faith if they choose to use this setting. We encourage keeping open reviews enabled for maximum transparency.
Moderation of open reviews: All open-submission reviews are subject to the same content standards and fraud checks as invited ones. If an open review is flagged as potentially fake or violating content guidelines, it will undergo investigation and may be removed, just as with any other review.

In summary, open reviews are a useful complement to invited reviews, provided they remain honest. We welcome organic feedback and make it visible, while clearly differentiating it from verified purchase reviews for clarity.

Incentivized Reviews

Incentivized reviews (reviews given in exchange for some benefit such as a discount, free product, entry into a prize draw, loyalty points, etc.) are permissible only if fully disclosed and unbiased. REVIEWS.io follows legal requirements that prohibit “concealed” incentivized reviews. This means:

If a reviewer received any incentive in exchange for leaving a review, this must be clearly disclosed by applying the 'Incentivized' tag. It is the client’s responsibility to tag incentivized reviews appropriately.
No biasing the content: Even when an incentive is offered, the reviewer should be free to write an honest review (positive, negative, or neutral) based on their true experience. We do not allow offering incentives solely for positive reviews or asking customers to leave a five-star review in return for a reward. Incentives, if used, should be for submitting a review, not for a predetermined favourable outcome. Any language suggesting the customer should only post a good review to get the reward is against our policy.
Transparency to consumers: When an incentivized review is published, the existence of an incentive will be made evident to anyone reading it. Concealing the incentive is forbidden. Readers and potential customers have a right to know if a reviewer’s experience might have been influenced by a promotion.
Platform safeguards: REVIEWS.io may require businesses to inform us if they plan to run an incentivized review campaign. We may monitor the incoming reviews in such campaigns for any signs of distortion (e.g. a sudden spike in overly positive language) to ensure incentives are not compromising authenticity. We also remind customers in the review invitation or submission form to be truthful and note if they received a benefit for reviewing.

By allowing incentivized reviews with proper disclosure, we aim to encourage feedback while staying fully honest. If a client fails to disclose incentives or is found to be bartering only for positive feedback, we will treat those reviews as fake/misleading and take action accordingly.

Moderation, Flagging and Fraud Detection

REVIEWS.io maintains robust systems and processes to identify, prevent, and remove fake reviews. We take a reasonable and proportionate approach as required by law: deploying both automated tools and human moderation to keep our platform trustworthy. Key elements of our moderation and anti-fraud program include:

Automated fraud detection: Our system uses algorithms and pattern analysis to detect suspicious reviews. This can include detecting multiple reviews from the same user or IP, content similarity (possible bots or templates), or other signals that a review might not be genuine. These reviews are flagged for further inspection.
Manual review and verification: We have a dedicated moderation team that investigates flagged reviews and any reports of fake content. Moderators may request proof of purchase or additional info from a reviewer or the reviewed business to verify a questionable review's authenticity. We strive for an impartial investigation in each case, as our only goal is to ensure the review reflects a real experience. During the investigation, a review may be temporarily hidden if there are strong indications of fraud, to prevent potential misinformation from affecting consumers.
User and client flagging tools: Our platform provides an optional “Report/Flag Review” function on each review. If a business or consumer suspects a review is fake, incentivized without disclosure, or otherwise violates our content guidelines, they can flag it for review. For example, businesses can click the flag icon under a review on their dashboard or public page to submit a report along with reasons/evidence. We encourage all users to report suspicious reviews – “see something, say something.” Every report is taken seriously and reviewed by our team.
Collaboration with clients: If a review is flagged, we may coordinate with the business to gather information (e.g. “Do you have a record of this person as a customer?”). However, businesses cannot unilaterally delete or hide reviews; all moderation decisions are made by REVIEWS.io based on evidence and policy. This ensures objectivity. If a review is simply negative but appears genuine, we will not remove it just because the business dislikes it. Conversely, if a review is positive but clearly fake (say, written by the business owner or a bot), it will be removed. Our focus is authenticity over sentiment.
Content standards enforcement: Apart from fakery, we also moderate for offensive language, personal data, defamation, etc., as per our content guidelines. Reviews containing prohibited content are rejected or edited to remove the offending parts (with notation, if edited). However, as noted, we do not edit or remove reviews just for being critical. We distinguish between a “negative but honest” review (which stays up) and an “unfair or fake” review (which is subject to removal).
Ongoing monitoring: We continuously monitor review activity on the platform. This includes periodic audits of reviews for clients in high-risk categories or industries prone to fake review abuse. Through these measures, REVIEWS.io aims to prevent fake reviews from appearing and promptly remove any that do slip through. Our goal is that every review displayed is an authentic reflection of a customer's experience, so that consumers can trust the information.

Transparency in Display and Syndication

Transparency is a core principle of REVIEWS.io's platform. We ensure that the way reviews and ratings are displayed or syndicated (shared) does not mislead users:

All genuine reviews displayed: We do not hide or selectively publish reviews based on favourability. Every verified, compliant review is published on the client's REVIEWS.io profile and available to view, regardless of star rating. Clients cannot “curate” away the bad reviews from their profile. Our software and terms prevent deletion of genuine reviews by the client. The only reviews not displayed are those that violate our content policies or are confirmed to be fake. This approach prevents any skewing of the overall picture.
Widgets and integrations reflect true data: Many clients use REVIEWS.io widgets to show reviews or ratings on their own websites, or feed our reviews to other platforms (e.g. Google Stars in ads, product review snippets, etc.). We design these integrations to accurately represent the review data. For example, a widget showing an average star rating will use an average of all approved reviews, not a subset. If a client uses a carousel widget to showcase testimonials, we encourage including a representative mix and not exclusively five-star comments. We also provide trust badges and tools (like our “Review Nuggets” feature) to highlight snippets of reviews, but these should be used in good faith. Cherry-picking only positive excerpts while ignoring context is discouraged and can be misleading. Clients must follow any guidelines we provide for widget usage to ensure compliance (e.g. if we introduce a label or icon indicating the total review count and average, that must remain visible).
No editing of reviews by clients: Clients cannot alter the text or star rating of any customer's review. Our system locks review content once submitted, aside from moderation removals by REVIEWS.io staff for policy reasons. If a review contains minor issues (like a private detail) that needs redaction, our team can handle it, but the client cannot edit the narrative or score. This guarantees that what readers see is exactly what the reviewer wrote (minus any removals of policy-violating content, which are noted).
Syndication to third-parties: When REVIEWS.io shares review content with third-party platforms (such as Google, Bing, or client social media feeds), we uphold the same standards. We only syndicate verified purchase reviews to Google Seller Ratings (per Google's requirements). If a review is marked incentivized or has any special status, we ensure such information is included or reflected so third-party displays are not misleading. We comply with all partner platform rules (for example, Google requires that reviews used for ads are genuine and not selectively solicited).
Dates and relevance: By default, reviews display the date they were written. We advise against hiding review dates, as timeliness is part of transparency. Showing how recent reviews are helps consumers gauge relevance. In any case, even if dates are hidden on a client's own widget, the reviews remain in chronological order on the profile page. Outdated reviews (for example, about a product that has since been discontinued or a service that changed) are typically still genuine and thus not removed unless misleading – but we encourage clients to collect fresh reviews continuously so that older ones naturally fall down the list over time.

Enforcement and Consequences

REVIEWS.io takes violations of this Fake Review Policy very seriously. Both our own team and our client businesses have roles in enforcement:

REVIEWS.io actions on fake reviews: If we determine that a review is fake or otherwise violates this policy, we will remove it from publication promptly. The reviewer (if an account-holder) may be notified or banned from future submissions. Our team keeps records of removed reviews and the reasons, in case of any regulatory audit or inquiry, subject to deletions required by applicable law or regulation.
Actions against clients (businesses) who abuse the system: If a business using REVIEWS.io is found to be actively engaging in or encouraging fake review practices, we will take swift action. This can include suspension or termination of the client's account/contract, removal of all suspect reviews, and potentially reporting the behavior to relevant authorities (such as the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) if appropriate). Examples of client violations include: soliciting employees or contractors/vendors to write reviews pretending to be customers, purchasing bulk fake reviews, selectively suppressing invites or feedback to manipulate ratings, or failing to disclose incentives. We reserve the right to terminate service for any client that jeopardises our platform's integrity or legal compliance. Our Terms of Service with clients explicitly bar fake review activity, and this policy forms part of those terms.
Legal compliance and cooperation: We are prepared to cooperate with regulators enforcing anti-fake-review laws. REVIEWS.io is committed to being DMCC and FTC-compliant and will support investigations as needed. We also follow legal and regulatory guidance, including the FTC Guidelines Concerning use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 C.F.R. Part 255), to the extent applicable and guidance from other jurisdictions since the principle of truthful reviews is universal.
Client guidance and training: As part of enforcement, we also emphasise prevention. We provide our business clients with guidance on how to ask for reviews ethically (e.g. using neutral language in invitations, avoiding any incentive pitfalls) and how to respond to negative reviews constructively rather than trying to remove them. If we spot risky behaviour that hasn't yet resulted in fake reviews, we prefer to educate the client early. Our aim is to have all clients on the same page regarding honest review collection.
No retaliation: If a customer leaves a negative review, the business must not harass or pressure the customer to change or remove it outside the proper channels. Our policy prohibits contacting a reviewer to influence them improperly. The correct approach is to either respond publicly (professionally addressing the feedback) or, if the review is suspected fake, use our reporting process. We will not tolerate any attempts to bully or improperly incentivize customers into altering genuine reviews.

By enforcing these rules firmly and fairly, we help ensure that REVIEWS.io remains a trusted platform for consumers and a compliant partner for businesses. This policy is effective immediately and will be updated as needed to remain aligned with current laws and best practices. All users of REVIEWS.io are expected to follow the letter and spirit of this policy. Together, we can foster an environment of honest feedback and consumer confidence.