CMA Opens Formal Investigations Into AutoTrader, Just Eat, and Three Others Over Fake Reviews
What happened
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened five formal consumer law investigations into businesses suspected of using fake or misleading reviews. The companies under investigation are AutoTrader, Feefo, Dignity, Just Eat, and Pasta Evangelists.
The allegations are specific and varied. AutoTrader and Feefo are being investigated for allegedly filtering out one-star reviews so they never appeared on the platform or counted towards star ratings. Just Eat is under scrutiny for a ratings system that may have inflated restaurant star ratings. Dignity, a funeral services company, is being investigated for allegedly having staff write positive reviews posing as customers. And Pasta Evangelists is accused of offering discounts in exchange for five-star reviews without disclosing the incentive.
These are the first formal investigations launched under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act, which made fake and misleading reviews illegal from 6 April 2026. The CMA expects to provide an update on all five cases by September 2026.
What this means for tradespeople
These investigations send a clear signal: the CMA is serious about enforcement. The fake review ban isn't just words on paper — real businesses are already being investigated, and the practices being targeted are ones that exist across every industry.
For tradespeople, the message is straightforward. If you've ever been tempted to ask a mate to leave a review, offer a discount for a five-star rating, or use a service that filters out negative feedback — these are exactly the practices now under investigation. The CMA has already sent 54 warning letters to businesses it found potentially non-compliant, and formal investigations are now underway.
The upside? Tradespeople who collect genuine reviews have less to worry about from competitors gaming the system. As enforcement bites, the playing field gets fairer.
What to do about it
Make sure your review collection process is compliant. That means asking all customers for reviews (not just happy ones), never offering incentives for positive ratings, and never writing reviews yourself or asking friends and family to do it.
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 — fully DMCC-compliant by design.
Source: GOV.UK — Fake and misleading reviews: 5 businesses under CMA investigation