The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced charges against Sitejabber, a prominent online consumer review platform. The FTC alleges that the company misled consumers by publishing AI reviews that gave falsely favourable impressions of products and services. According to the FTC, Sitejabber’s practices distorted the credibility of its ratings, which appeared on its website as well as in Google and other search results.
Sitejabber, operated by GGL Projects, Inc., provides an AI-driven review platform that gathers customer feedback for various businesses. However, FTC says that these reviews are misleadingly collected.
The agency contends that Sitejabar solicited feedback at the point of sale, often before customers could experience the products or services they were buying. For instance, customers were prompted to rate their “overall shopping experience” immediately after checkout, and these responses were displayed as if they represented genuine post-purchase satisfaction.
These tactics allowed Sitejabber to artificially boost average ratings and review counts, leading consumers to believe that most reviews reflected the experiences of actual users who had received their products.
The platform allegedly further asked customers to rate products before receiving them, with prompts like “Why did you choose the [product] today?” which could create a falsely positive impression of customer satisfaction.
The FTC has proposed an order prohibiting Sitejabber from making or facilitating false statements about reviews. If enacted, the order would restrict the platform from misrepresenting its review collection process, ratings, or the authenticity of customer feedback. The company would also be barred from helping its business clients publish misleading feedback gathered at the time of purchase, ensuring reviews accurately reflect the experience of actual customers.
“Platforms don’t have free rein to mislead people about the consumer reviews shown for companies and their products,” said Samuel Levine, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director.
The FTC will soon open a public comment period, allowing consumers and businesses to provide feedback on the proposed settlement. The Commission will then decide on the final order based on this feedback.
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