Does The New FTC Reviews Policy Impact Your Business?

The FTC just dropped a new rule that harshly cracks down on, let’s call it, “manipulated” reviews and testimonials. Manipulated reviews can now lead to serious penalties, so it’s more important than ever to ensure your reviews are 100% authentic.

Here’s what the rule prohibits that impacts Google Business Profiles:

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- Incentivizing or buying fake or false reviews, testimonials, as well as social signals, such as “likes”.
- Having people within the organization, family members, or friends leave reviews that don’t represent genuine experiences.
- Preventing people from leaving negative reviews.
- Displaying only 5-star reviews in a way that suggests you have no negative reviews.
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To take it a step further, the FTC will be able to seek penalties from violators since they know enforcement without penalty won’t be enough to stop this from happening. Now is a great time to focus on gathering real, authentic reviews while your competitor’s fake reviews get removed and they get punished. We reviewed all of our reviews software and found that we are in compliance with these new policies. Start your trial for Paige and get access to our FTC compliant review tools ASAP!

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About Author

Justin Silverman

Justin Silverman is the Founder and CEO of Merchynt, a local SEO technology company on a mission to make local SEO services not suck—one agency and small business at a time. Since launching Merchynt in 2019, Justin has helped over 20,000 businesses grow through data-driven Google Business Profile optimization and AI-powered local marketing tools like Paige. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and business growth, Justin previously held executive roles at Vista Group, where he served as VP of Global Partnerships and President of MovieXchange. He also led strategy and operations at Veezi, helping to scale tech products across international markets. Justin's career has spanned roles in marketing, partnerships, and operations, working with companies from early-stage startups to global enterprises. His deep knowledge of local search, combined with real-world leadership, positions him as a trusted voice in the local SEO and SaaS space. Under his leadership, Merchynt has become a go-to provider for agencies and small businesses seeking to dominate local search rankings through white-label solutions, AI automation, and performance-focused strategy. Justin continues to speak, write, and build tools with one mission in mind: to help 298 million businesses get found online by their perfect customer.