Fake Reviews in the UK: CMA Data, Google's Crackdown, and What It Means for Tradespeople (2026)

The DMCC Act, Google's 240 million review removals, CMA enforcement data, and why authentic review collection just became the only viable strategy for UK tradespeople.

Fake reviews became illegal in April 2025. Google removed 240 million fakes in 2024. The CMA found 54 out of 100+ businesses non-compliant. Here's what this means for UK tradespeople.

TapReview 10 min read Google Reviews

Key Takeaways

Fake Reviews in the UK: CMA Data, Google's Crackdown, and What It Means for Tradespeople (2026)

The UK made fake reviews illegal in April 2025. Google removed 240 million fake reviews globally in 2024. The CMA estimates that £23 billion in UK consumer spending is influenced by reviews every year. And in July 2025, a CMA sweep found over half of the businesses checked were failing to comply with the new rules.

This isn't background noise — it's a structural shift in how online reviews work in the UK. For tradespeople who collect genuine reviews from real customers, the playing field just got more level. For anyone relying on fake, gated, or incentivised reviews, the ground is shifting under their feet.

Here's every relevant statistic and regulatory development, and what it means practically for UK tradespeople managing their Google Reviews.

For the full data set, see: Google Reviews statistics for UK tradespeople (2026).

TL;DR

The DMCC Act: what changed in April 2025

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024 introduced new consumer protection rules that directly affect reviews. From April 2025, it became illegal to:

The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) gained new direct enforcement powers under the Act, meaning they can issue fines without needing to go through the courts first.

For tradespeople, the practical implications are straightforward: ask every customer for a review (not just the happy ones), don't offer incentives, and don't buy reviews. If you're doing those things already, you're compliant. If you're using a tool that selectively requests reviews or offers discounts for 5-star ratings, you're now breaking the law.

For our full breakdown of the DMCC Act for tradespeople, see: the DMCC Act and Google Reviews: what UK tradespeople need to know.

The scale of fake reviews

How big is the problem?

The numbers are significant:

UK consumer spending influenced by reviews £23 billion/year CMA estimate 2024 Google fake/policy-breaking reviews removed 240 million (up 40% YoY) Google/Search Engine Land Apr 2025 Estimated fake reviews on Google 10.7% Uberall "State of Online Review Fraud" 2024 Consumers concerned about fake reviews 75% Trustpilot 2024 Trustpilot fake reviews removed (2024) 4.5 million (90% by AI) Trustpilot Trust Report 2025

That 10.7% figure from Uberall's 2024 analysis means roughly 1 in 10 Google reviews may be fabricated. For a homeowner comparing two plumbers — one with 40 reviews and one with 15 — the question of which reviews are genuine becomes material.

Google's removal of 240 million reviews in 2024 (up 40% from the previous year) shows the scale of the cleanup effort. But it also reveals the scale of the problem: for every fake review removed, others slip through.

Where fake reviews come from

Fake reviews in the trades sector come from several sources:

Competitors posting negative reviews — a tradesperson leaving a 1-star review on a rival's profile. This is surprisingly common in local trades where businesses compete for the same geographic area.

Purchased positive reviews — Fiverr, freelance forums, and review farms selling packages of fake 5-star reviews. Google's algorithms are getting better at detecting these (hence the 240 million removals), but some still get through.

Self-reviews or friend/family reviews — technically against Google's policies and now potentially illegal under the DMCC Act if they don't reflect genuine customer experience.

Incentivised reviews — offering a discount on the next job in exchange for a 5-star review. Common in the trades, now explicitly illegal.

For guidance on handling fake reviews left on your profile: how to handle a fake Google review as a UK tradesperson.

CMA enforcement: what's happening now

Google's undertakings (December 2024)

In December 2024, Google signed formal undertakings with the CMA specifically about fake reviews. Google committed to improving its detection and removal of fake reviews on Google Maps and Business Profiles, and to providing better tools for businesses to report suspicious reviews.

This is significant because it means the CMA now has a direct regulatory relationship with Google on review integrity — and Google has made enforceable commitments.

The July 2025 compliance sweep

In July 2025, the CMA conducted a sweep of over 100 businesses to check compliance with the new fake review rules. The results were concerning: 54 businesses (more than half) were found to be falling short of compliance.

The CMA hasn't published a full breakdown of which sectors were most non-compliant, but the sweep signals that enforcement is active and that businesses across sectors — including home services — are being monitored.

What enforcement looks like

Under the DMCC Act, the CMA can:

For a sole trader or small trade business, the 10% turnover penalty is the headline figure. For a plumber on £86K turnover, that's a potential fine of up to £8,600. In practice, the CMA is more likely to target platforms, review brokers, and larger businesses first — but the legal framework applies to everyone.

Trustpilot's transparency data

Trustpilot, the UK's largest review platform by market, published its 2025 Trust Report with detailed fraud data:

Total global reviews 330 million+ Reviews posted in 2024 61 million (+15% YoY) Fake reviews removed in 2024 4.5 million (90% detected by AI) New businesses reviewed in 2024 229,000 (+35% from 2023) First-time reviewers in 2024 22 million (+13% YoY) Monthly active users 64 million UK customers (largest market) 28,053

Trustpilot's data shows the review ecosystem is growing rapidly — 61 million reviews posted in 2024 alone — and that AI-powered detection is becoming the primary tool for identifying fakes. The 4.5 million removals represent roughly 7.4% of new reviews being flagged as fraudulent.

For tradespeople, Trustpilot is less directly relevant than Google (Google controls 81–90% of home services review volume), but the trust data matters because it shapes overall consumer attitudes to reviews. When 75% of consumers worry about fake reviews, the tradespeople who can demonstrate authentic, detailed reviews from real customers have a significant trust advantage.

What "review gating" means and why it's now illegal

Review gating is the practice of screening customers before asking for a review — typically by sending a satisfaction survey first, and only sending the Google review link to customers who rate their experience positively. Unhappy customers get redirected to an internal feedback form instead.

This was common practice until April 2025. Many review management tools — including some marketed to tradespeople — had review gating built in as a feature.

Under the DMCC Act, this is now explicitly illegal because it constitutes suppression of negative reviews. The law requires that review collection processes treat all customers equally — you can't selectively request reviews from happy customers while filtering out unhappy ones.

TapReview has never used review gating. It sends the same Google review request to every customer after every job — which is exactly how the law now requires it to work. The review link goes to Google, where the customer leaves whatever rating they choose. No filtering, no screening, no gating.

How fake review removal affects honest tradespeople

The playing field is levelling

For tradespeople who've been collecting genuine reviews the honest way, the DMCC Act and Google's crackdown are unambiguously positive:

Competitors with inflated ratings lose their advantage. If a rival has 80 five-star reviews including 15 purchased ones, those 15 are increasingly likely to be detected and removed. Their rating drops. Yours doesn't — because yours are real.

Consumer trust in reviews increases. As fake reviews are cleaned up and enforcement becomes visible, consumers become more confident that the reviews they read are genuine. This increases the conversion value of every authentic review on your profile.

Authentic reviews become a competitive moat. When buying reviews is both illegal and increasingly detectable, the only way to build a strong review profile is to actually do good work and systematically collect feedback. That takes time — meaning your existing authentic reviews are an asset competitors can't shortcut.

What to do if you suspect fake reviews

If you notice suspicious reviews on a competitor's profile (multiple reviews posted on the same day, reviewers with no other review history, generic language that doesn't mention specific work), you can:

  1. Report them to Google via the "Flag as inappropriate" option on each review
  2. Report them to the CMA via the Citizens Advice consumer service if you believe they're part of a systematic fake review operation
  3. Focus on your own profile — the most effective response to a competitor with fake reviews is to have more genuine reviews than they have total reviews

For fake reviews left on your own profile: how to handle a fake Google review as a UK tradesperson.

The numbers that matter for tradespeople

Here's the statistical case for authentic review collection in the post-DMCC landscape:

The message is clear: in the new regulatory environment, systematic genuine review collection is the strategy. Not gaming the system — just consistently asking real customers after real jobs.

TapReview is a £9/month tool that helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews by sending automated review requests via WhatsApp and SMS after every job. Every request goes to every customer equally — no gating, no filtering, fully DMCC-compliant.

Frequently asked questions

Are fake reviews illegal in the UK?

Yes, since April 2025. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024 makes it illegal to write, commission, or host fake reviews. It also bans review gating (selectively requesting reviews from happy customers) and offering incentives for positive reviews. The CMA can impose fines of up to 10% of turnover.

How many fake reviews does Google remove?

Google removed 240 million fake or policy-breaking reviews in 2024, up 40% from the previous year. An estimated 10.7% of all Google reviews may be fake (Uberall, 2024). Google signed formal undertakings with the UK's CMA in December 2024 to improve detection.

Can I still ask customers for Google reviews?

Absolutely — asking for reviews is legal and encouraged. What you can't do is selectively ask only happy customers (review gating), offer incentives for positive reviews, or buy fake reviews. The legal approach is to ask every customer equally, which is exactly what TapReview does.

What happens if I buy fake Google reviews?

Under the DMCC Act, you could face CMA enforcement including fines of up to 10% of annual turnover. Google also actively detects and removes fake reviews — and may suspend your Google Business Profile entirely if it detects a pattern of fake reviews. Beyond legal risk, purchased reviews are increasingly detectable by consumers who look for patterns.

Does TapReview comply with the DMCC Act?

Yes. TapReview sends the same review request to every customer after every job — no satisfaction screening, no gating, no filtering. The customer clicks through to Google and leaves whatever rating they choose. This is exactly how the DMCC Act requires review collection to work.

Related reading

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are fake reviews illegal in the UK?

Yes, since April 2025. The DMCC Act 2024 makes it illegal to write, commission, or host fake reviews. It also bans review gating and offering incentives for positive reviews. The CMA can impose fines of up to 10% of turnover.

How many fake reviews does Google remove?

Google removed 240 million fake or policy-breaking reviews in 2024, up 40% from the previous year. An estimated 10.7% of all Google reviews may be fake. Google signed formal undertakings with the UK's CMA in December 2024.

Can I still ask customers for Google reviews?

Absolutely — asking for reviews is legal and encouraged. What you can't do is selectively ask only happy customers (review gating), offer incentives for positive reviews, or buy fake reviews. Ask every customer equally.

What happens if I buy fake Google reviews?

Under the DMCC Act, you could face CMA enforcement including fines of up to 10% of annual turnover. Google may also suspend your Business Profile if it detects a pattern of fake reviews.

Does TapReview comply with the DMCC Act?

Yes. TapReview sends the same review request to every customer after every job — no satisfaction screening, no gating, no filtering. Fully compliant with the DMCC Act.