The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against Sitejabber, an AI-enabled consumer review platform, accusing the company of misleading consumers. The FTC alleges that Sitejabber misrepresented ratings and reviews as being from customers who had experienced the reviewed products or services, thus artificially inflating average ratings and review counts.
A proposed order aims to prevent Sitejabber from making such misrepresentations in the future. Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated, “Platforms don’t have free rein to mislead people about the consumer reviews shown for companies and their products.”
The FTC's complaint details how GGL Projects, Inc., operating as Sitejabber, collected ratings and reviews at the point of sale before customers received or experienced their purchases. These early-stage ratings were allegedly used to inflate client ratings on Sitejabber’s platform and appeared in search results on Google and other platforms.
Further allegations suggest that Sitejabber enabled clients to publish pre-fulfillment product reviews on their websites. This practice allowed them to misrepresent that these reviews were from customers who had received their purchases.
The proposed order prohibits any misrepresentation regarding customer ratings or reviews reflecting actual experiences with purchased products or services. It also prevents Sitejabber from assisting others in making such misrepresentations.
The FTC's administrative complaint was unanimously supported by a 5-0 vote from its commissioners, with separate statements issued by Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak. The consent agreement will be published in the Federal Register for public comment before a final decision is made.
Comments must be submitted within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Once processed, they will be available on Regulations.gov.
The FTC issues an administrative complaint when it believes a law violation has occurred and deems proceedings in the public interest. A final consent order carries legal weight for future actions, with each violation potentially resulting in a civil penalty up to $51,744.
FTC staff attorneys Michael Ostheimer and Michel Atleson are handling this matter.
For more information on consumer protection topics or to report fraud, visit consumer.ftc.gov or ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
