The CMA had launched an investigation into the group, suspected of “breaking the legislation on consumer protection by not acting enough to protect them from false opinions,” it underlined in its press release. In particular, “insufficient detection and detection of false opinions were pointed out, an inaction in the face of suspicious behavior, and an absence of adequate sanctions”. Google has undertaken to strengthen its measures to detect false opinions, in order to better delete them, but also to suspend the accounts that published them. Companies that have artificially attempted to improve their assessments “will see visible alerts on their Google profiles to inform consumers” that a suspicious activity has been detected. The publication of new opinions may be suspended and recurrent companies will see their opinions deleted for at least 6 months. According to CMA estimates, online opinions influence the expenses of British consumers up to around 23 billion pounds (27 billion euros) per year, in particular in the tourism sector. Research shows that 89 % of consumers consult online opinions when looking for a product or service. An equivalent CMA survey on Amazon is still underway.
Swiss
