Reviews and the law - detailed analysis of the CMA's letter to businesses

Here we take Jon Riley, the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) Project Director's open letter to businesses inviting customer reviews, to their websites or to anywhere else, be that Google or one of the many independent reviews sites, and expand on it - point-by-point.

We are doing this now - nearly nine months after the letter was published and in addition to our December article on the same subject, because we continue to see solutions adopted by businesses that are - wittingly or unwittingly - flouting both the word and the spirit of these legally enforceable regulations.

Links: use of online reviews and endorsements and concluded an investigation

Note: When the CMA use the term 'retailer' they mean any business selling products or services to members of the public or other businesses.

The important phrases in this section are 'content....accurately reflect reviewers' feedback on their experiences, hotly followed by 'Fair-playing'. The litmus test of any reviews system is really very simple: does it allow a dissatisfied customer to voice their opinion in exactly the same way as a satisfied customer? If your business can answer 'yes' to that simple question it is likely to be compliant with CMA regulations.

Do not think that the CMA will hesitate to take action. They have the full weight of consumer protection law behind them and there is ample recent evidence that they are prepared to use it. In 2015 three estate agents were fined a total of £375,000 for breaching CMA rules.

Compliance with these three points is crucial. The CMA has legal powers to demand evidence of compliance. Every customer of every HelpHound client is able to write a review whenever they choose, they just need to visit the business's website. HelpHound moderators are trained to monitor communications between our clients and their reviewers to ensure compliance.

Our Resolution™ moderation system is designed to ensure compliance with both these points. Many reviews sites currently have procedures in place which favour the business. Examples of these include 'invitation only' systems where the review site only invites reviews from nominated email addresses and or only allows reviews to be written at point-of-purchase. The CMA would doubtless argue that the purchaser of, say, a pair of shoes or a dishwasher, or the tenant in the case of an estate agent, might be in a a better position to review the quality of the product (in the first two examples) or service (in the latter) months or even years post-purchase. At HelpHound we would agree.

It is made clear on our modules that all genuine reviews are published:

All our clients' reviews are displayed chronologically by default, with the reader being given the following options:

All legitimate, genuine, relevant and lawful reviews are published, positive or negative. The extent of the delay in publication of the review remains in the hands of the reviewer at all times. We advise all our clients against displaying testimonials as they have lost power in the eyes of the overwhelming majority of consumers when compared with independently verified reviews.

Resolution is designed to efficiently facilitate both these points. Some systems incorporate appeals procedures that - perhaps inadvertently - favour the business. One such allows the business to 'appeal' any review, at which point the review site will suspend the review from publication and revert to the reviewer and ask them to substantiate whatever comments the business finds contentious. On the face of it this looks fair, but in reality it allows the less scrupulous business to appeal all and any negative reviews in the near-certain knowledge that few reviewers will persist. With our system the reviewer always retains the right to have their review published - at whatever stage in the process they may find themselves. Furthermore, all reviewers are invited to publish a review at the completion of the Resolution process.

Our T&Cs do not allow threatening or abusive language, but that does not necessarily invalidate the review: we will refer back to the reviewer and ask them to rewrite their review using more temperate language.

There is an interesting reversal of this - we have seen communications from one review site to a business declining to enter into discussion about a negative review of the business and inferring that this might happen if the business in question were a paying member.

In summary

To take the well worn 'duck test' (if it look like, quacks like...it almost certainly is). If, as a business, you are offered a reviews solution that 'favours your business' it is almost certainly non compliant. And this is not confined to external review sites - we have in the last month  encountered a large national business with over two hundred branches that is selectively displaying Google reviews on each branch's web page.

Here is a link to the 60-second summary from the CMA:

As ever, if you are a HelpHound client this article is for information only. If you are not yet a client and you would like us to comment on your current procedure, just contact us.

Important update May 2020: The CMA launches an investigation

22 May 2020: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into several major websites that display online reviews.

The CMA will investigate whether these websites are taking sufficient measures to protect consumers from fake and misleading reviews. In particular, it will examine how the websites currently detect, investigate and respond to fake and misleading reviews. It will look into issues such as:

• suspicious reviews – where, for example, a single user has reviewed an unlikely range of products or services;

• whether businesses are manipulating the presentation of reviews about their products and services by, for example, combining positive reviews for one product with the reviews for another; and

• how these websites handle reviews about products or services that the reviewer has received a payment or other incentive to review.

See the full text and the CMA's press briefing here.

And finally...

It is illegal to chop and change review solutions as and when one shows the business in a better light than another. This is especially the case when a business uses a widget to feed its Google reviews to its own website until it receives a damaging one-star review there, when the feed is dropped until sufficient 5* reviews are gained to 'bury' the damaging review. 

In short, any strategy that the CMA sees as benefitting the business to the detriment of the consumer will be deemed illegal - even if it is not specifically mentioned in the CMA regulations.

Further reading...

• Moderation - the answer for businesses requiring professional review management for the long term
• The importance of adopting a medium-long-term reviews strategy
• Why break the rules - when there's no need?
• Fear of unfair or misleading reviews - it's real, so many businesses react by adopting the wrong strategy

Hotels: we have only one question

Most of you will have seen this recent article from ReviewPro:

And some of you will be saying 'We knew that already'. 

So here's our question:

"Given that HelpHound is proven to improve review scores, and improved review scores have proven to result in higher RevPAR, why is your hotel not a member?"

Join now!

There should be only one barrier - cost. From now until 1 July we are making an offer we hope you will find hard to resist:

• No joining fee
• £1 per month per room
• No contract - terminate with no notice

Why every business needs to own its own reviews space

Every so often we meet a business that has very little presence in the reviews space, sometimes no presence at all. In these cases a big part of our role is to explain the ultimate downside of adopting such a strategy - if you can call 'doing nothing' a strategy - where reviews are concerned. And it helps if we can find an example.

Here's Noble Caledonia in search:

Here are their reviews:

Upon further examination:

• a year ago they had no reviews at all
• a month ago they had just one

Now they have twenty-four, and a Google score of 1.0. This cannot be considered a PR dream scenario. It must be having a negative impact on their business. And it will take time and a proactive review management strategy to repair.

What should they - and any business in their situation pre-Raja Ampat - have done?

They should have engaged. A business of this size, with their marketing resources, would have had hundreds of reviews from their genuine customers on Google. It would not have prevented the eco-warriors from airing their views - some of the more extreme of which are undoubtedly appealable - but it would have put their happy customers' views in the frame.

So - imagine your business's 'Raja Ampat' scenario - and plan for it. You insure your business infrastructure and your key staff, insure your reputation as well. So... 

1. Look great on Google...

2. Look great anywhere else that matters...

3. Oh - and look great on your own website...

Then, in the unlikely event* that your business falls victim to a 'Noble Caledonia' attack, your happy customers will have already formed your first line of defence.

*Much more likely is the single well-crafted negative review, which, if posted on Google for a business that has no, or few, reviews there can do just as much harm.

A final note

All the businesses mentioned in this article also have presences on independent review sites - but they don't show prominently in search. Your business must focus its strategy on the areas of the web that are seen and read by all your potential customers, and these days, for most businesses, that means Google first and foremost.

Choosing a reviews solution - don't be like the dog in the Larson cartoon

Some of you will be old enough to remember this 1980s cartoon:

 

More Gary Larson madness here

But why are we showing it here? Because, nearly every day of our working lives, we are reminded of it - or the human equivalent. In the dog analogy the dog hears nothing unless its name is mentioned (and we can be forgiven for extrapolating this to include words like 'din-dins' or 'walkies'). 

In our 'human to human' analogy the businessperson being sold to has hearing that is nearly as selective.

Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"You need our solution because we have a system that makes sure only your real customers can write a review."

Businessperson hears:

 "Great, we can just invite customers that we know are sure to write us a five-star review."

Reality:

Fine, but you will only be doing this because you are unaware that the law - in the person of the Competition and Markets Authority - expressly forbids this kind of selection.

 
Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"People can only invite a review if and when you ask them."
 
Businessperson hears:

"Even better - no review later on when [the product falls apart] or [the service is not as good as they were promised]."

Reality:

Fine, but again: you will only be doing this because you are unaware that the law - in the person of the Competition and Markets Authority - expressly forbids this kind of selection.


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"Your rating will show in Google search."

Businessperson hears:

"We'll look great in search."

Reality:

Your rating will only show as long as you pay Google to advertise. If you want a rating to show in organic search - i.e. all the time - you just need to ask your web designer to implement the Google schema - and that's free.


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"If you pay [extra] we will allow you to challenge all your negative reviews."
 
Businessperson hears:

"Fantastic, we can filter out negatives - we'll look great."

Consumer/press/regulators think:

"We are being manipulated."

Reality:

The solution you are being offered is flawed (and non-compliant with CMA regs.)


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"You will benefit from the crediblity of our global branding."

Businessperson hears:

"Our business will benefit from their global branding" 

Reality:

Consumers don't care about review sites, or their branding - all they want to know is that they can believe the reviews (and when we say 'consumers' you should read 'press' and 'competitors', because if you select the wrong solution you can be sure this will be highlighted by one or the other - or even both - before long).


Salesperson selling a reviews solution:

"Ours is the best solution"

Businessperson hears:

"Theirs is the solution for my business"

Reality:

No one solution is sure to work long-term (look at the solutions offered to just one type of business - estate agency - over the last ten years if you are in any doubt).


HelpHound salesperson selling HelpHound:

"We are review managers, not a review site - we work for your business, so if we think your business would benefit from having a presence on any particular review site we will advise you accordingly.

Businessperson hears:

"HelpHound will make sure we are always given the best advice, because they work for us.

Reality

We work for your business - if our advice is not the best, or if it's not working for your business - fire us!


In summary

We hope all the above makes sense. It does to us, and most important of all it does to our clients, because they are getting what they heard they would get.
 
Further reading;

• Review sites : the unintended consequences
• Never commit to a single review solution
• Reviews and the law - an important update

Restaurants: A sad - and perhaps unnecessary - story

A while ago we offered our services to this restaurant (simply because it was one of our staffer's local hostelry, and he wanted us to help them):

  Garnier - Sadly missed. But 10 Google reviews in four years?

And now, as you can see, it's closed. Which is sad, because we enjoyed our occasional Friday lunchtime sessions there.

Now, we are far from saying that being a member of HelpHound on its own could have saved Garnier, but let's look at the facts:

• the food was excellent - everyone agreed on that (even the few - including some HelpHounders - who bothered to write a review on Google)
• the staff had that great balance between 'welcoming and professional' and 'over-friendly' - and they knew the menu backwards
• the room was great - it actually had space between the tables, unusual for central south-west London these days
• the location was not 'prime prime', but it was right on the junction of the Old Brompton Road and the Earl's Court Road - and there are half-a-dozen restaurants within a hundred yards

What should they have done (and what should every other restaurant do)?

1. Collect as many guest email addresses as possible. How? Simple - when you present the bill, give each guest a card and a pencil and ask them to fill in their email - no pressure, but a mention that the restaurant likes to keep regular diners up-to-date with speacial events never goes amiss. For every hundred covers you should be looking at collecting forty emails. 
2. Email each guest inviting them to write a review to the restaurant's own website, where any issues can be addressed pre-publication by the restaurant's management. Reviews on the restaurant's own website will qualify it for a star rating in organic search and a link under 'Reviews from the web'.
3. Ask those who have posted a review to copy that to Google. 

Let's look at the numbers per annum (working per 100 covers/day):

• 35,000 covers - of which 25% provide an email address* - gives...
• 8,750 email addresses - of which 10% write a review to the restaurant's website - gives...
• 875 reviews - of which one in five go on to copy their review to Google - gives
• 175 Google reviews

On top of that - the restaurant has garnered (no pun...) many thousands of contacts for its other marketing. 

*Harvesting email addresses: all that is needed is a card and a pencil - and a dose of charm. It works.

It doesn't stop there...

The restaurant - or its agents - should respond to those reviews, all of them. Why? First because it sends a very positive message to potential customers: if the restaurant cares about its online image then perhaps it cares about the quality of its food and customer service. Second, because responding to reviews keeps reviewers honest - it makes it much less likely that rogue reviewers will exaggerate any negative experiences that may have had.

Look at this review (of another restaurant):

  
 And then this one:

Both of these reviews have the ring of truth about them. But doesn't the first one - lacking a response from the business - reduce the likelihood that you're going to choose the restaurant for your next outing?

Point made? There's one more piece of advice: take reviews that criticise service much more seriously than those that criticise food. The late lamented A A Gill, when writing his Christmas 'review of reviews' a few years ago, stressed that he would be much more likely to forgive erratic cuisine if service was top-rate.

Can HelpHound help?

Besides giving you the mechanism to invite and display reviews, HelpHound also incorporates an optional response service: Feedback Manager. So, if you are too busy, or lack the capacity to respond to reviews, we are here to help.

HelpHound made simple - for Estate Agents

There are now over 600 articles on this blog (it's the nature of blogs - just like newspapers, we have to repeat articles - updating as we go). Time to make things simple. 

We are going to limit ourselves to five points. For those who would like to mine deeper we will give relevant links below each point.

Here we go...

Point 1

• Reviews are read and are believed. Scores do matter. Everyone searching on Google sees reviews - every time they search. Your business needs to properly engage with them. Good professional review management will earn your business money - we guarantee it.

Don't be one of the ever-reducing number of agencies that doesn't believe in the power of reviews. We'll hold your hand. And we promise you will never look back.

Understanding the consumer journey with reviews.

See what these HelpHound clients have to say. To be honest, if you read this you probably won't need to read much further!

Point 2

• Negative reviews hurt. Just ask any of the agencies that first contacted us when they needed help with one.

Ouch! - the telephone stopped ringing. That's how powerful a single negative review can be. Read this from back in 2015 - still as valid today as the day it was written.

Our Resolution™ mechanism reduces the likelihood of an unfair, inaccurate or misleading review ever seeing the light of day.
 
Point 3

•  You need reviews where your potential clients will see them. That means on...

• your own site
• Google
• Facebook

This is what your agency should look like (scroll to the end of this article); just imagine your main competitor looks like this, that sometimes helps.

Point 4 

• Review sites are over. Like dinosaurs, they won't die out overnight, but Google has been the nearest thing to a meteor strike - or was it an ice age - in the world of reviews. See point 3 above.

Look at what has happened to some agents who have adopted the review site solution.

Look at what's been happening to review sites' share prices. They tell the story.

Look at the plethora of review sites estate agents have been promised the earth by since 2010.

Point 5

• Don't cut corners and attempt to do-it-yourselves. It may work for weeks, or even months, but it will end in pain.

And it won't even save you money. What could possibly go wrong? Read 'DIY, the biggest cause of ...injury'


In summary

We are sure you get our drift by now. Professional review management works. We are so confident of this that we are now offering a full money-back guarantee. 

So - finally - look what some of our clients said recently about our service. And see what we have done for them.

Take us up on it - become like them - now - guaranteed!

Never commit to a single review solution

Sometimes people are confused about HelpHound - and mistake us for a review site. We can see how that would happen - until you understand the crucial difference.

Try thinking of us as brokers. You come to us for the best review solution in the same way as you would go to an insurance broker for the right insurance. 

Let's use estate agency as an example - because it has gone through more evolutions than most businesses.  

In 2010 the 'go-to' review site for estate agents was... 

By 2012 it had become...

 In 2014 along came...

Then in 2015 PurpleBricks signed to...

 Then in 2016 Feefo took up the baton...

 
And all the while, the biggest review site in the world...

 - Note: before anyone says 'size matters' - Yelp retreated back to the USA at the end of 2016, closing its sales operations in London and the rest of Europe, sending a powerful message about review sites' ability to compete

Now - we have met more than one business that has been through every stage of this 'evolution' and many that have experienced at least two. And the questions they invariably ask us are...

• how do I know if we are with the right site now?
• if we move, can we take our reviews with us?
• how do we know which site will be right for the future?

And our answers?

How do I know if we are with the right site?

There are two basic tests:

• is it providing your business's reviews with maximum visibility in search?
• if it drops off Google's radar, can you take your hard-won reviews with you?

There are others - does it show my competitors? Does it involve linking away from my site? Is it CMA compliant? But these two are the crucial ones.


Can we take our reviews with us if we leave?

We have not found a site that allows this - yet. Do tell us if you know of one (except HelpHound, but then, as we said at the beginning of this article, we are not a review site). 


Right for the future?

All of the above sites looked set to dominate when they were 'bought' by the business in question, in 2010, 2013, 2016...


That's why HelpHound's business model is different - we work for you

Our role is to deploy your reviews where they will make the maximum impact - for now and for the future. You own your reviews, whether or not you remain a client of HelpHound. All the while you are a client of ours we will ensure:

• your business has great - independently verified - reviews on your own website
• your business has great reviews on external sites that matter
• your business is protected from unfair, misleading or inaccurate reviews - anywhere

And if this means advising you to get reviews to TrustPilot or AllAgents, then that's the advice we will give you. 

Currently, of course (we say 'of course', but not everyone reading this will be doing this) we are advising our clients in estate agency to focus on their own website, then Google, then Facebook, like this...

...and this

....and this

But if and when the landscape changes - for us or for you - we will be the first to advise. 

HelpHound: peace of mind - knowing your efforts will be paying dividends, now and for the future.