The FTC fake reviews rule: what it bans, who it covers and how to comply

The FTC fake reviews rule (16 CFR Part 465, the Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule) took effect on October 21, 2024. It bans fake or false reviews and testimonials (AI-generated fakes included), paying for positive or negative reviews, undisclosed insider reviews, fake "independent" review sites, review suppression and trading in fake followers or views. Knowing violations can cost up to $53,088 each.

What is the FTC fake reviews rule?

The FTC announced the rule on August 14, 2024, after a 5-0 vote, and it was published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2024 (FTC announcement, Federal Register). It took effect 60 days later, on October 21, 2024. The FTC itself shortens the name to the Consumer Review Rule.

What the rule changes is the cost of getting caught. The FTC already treated much of this conduct as deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. But it said the Supreme Court's AMG Capital decision had hindered its ability to get money back for consumers, and a trade regulation rule lets it ask a court for civil penalties against knowing violators. Fake proof can now bring fines, not only an order to stop.

The rule sits beside the FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), revised in 2023. The Guides explain how the FTC applies the law to endorsements, disclosures and influencer posts; the rule names six practices that are violations in themselves. Our post on the Endorsement Guides covers disclosures and typical results. Here are the dates that matter for the rule:

The FTC fake reviews rule, date by date

1. Aug 14, 2024The FTC announces the final ruleApproved by a 5-0 vote.
2. Aug 22, 2024Published in the Federal Register89 FR 68034, effective 60 days later.
3. Oct 21, 2024The rule takes effectCourts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations.
4. Dec 22, 2025Warning letters to 10 companiesAbout possible violations. The FTC did not name the companies.
5. Sep 15, 2026Penalty level held at $53,088The 2026 inflation adjustment was canceled, so the 2025 maximum stays.

The six practices the rule bans

Six sections carry the bans; section 465.3 is reserved and empty. For buying reviews and spreading testimonials, the rule asks whether the business "knew or should have known" that they were fake or false. "The agency wrote them" is no defense when the warning signs were there, and a freelancer who delivers fifty glowing testimonials overnight is a warning sign.

The rule carves out reviews that result from a generalized request sent to all your buyers, and businesses that merely host reviews. Neither carve-out covers your sales page. The FTC's questions and answers on the rule say that testimonials a business puts on its own website are disseminated, not merely hosted, and that a consumer review featured in an ad becomes a testimonial.

Do VSL testimonials and page comments count?

Yes. The rule defines a consumer testimonial as an advertising or promotional message that people are likely to believe reflects a consumer's experience with a product. A testimonial clip in a VSL, a quote on the page, a customer story in a UGC ad and the comments displayed under your video all fit that description. Each one has to come from a real person describing what really happened to them.

Three cases cause most of the trouble:

• AI and invented customers. The FTC says the rule has no blanket ban on AI-generated avatars, but an avatar delivering a fake or false testimonial violates it. A "composite" customer stitched together from several real stories fails the same test: that person doesn't exist, which is exactly what section 465.2 covers.
• Actors. If an actor appears as a customer, the Endorsement Guides call for actual customers or a clear disclosure that the people shown aren't customers. Our guide to choosing a VSL presenter covers the trade-offs.
• Edited quotes. Trimming a long review is normal, but the Guides say advertisers shouldn't edit reviews in a way that distorts what customers think. Cut for length, never for meaning.

If you use the comments block on a RevvyScales page, you type the comments in yourself, so the rule lands on you, not on the software. Use only real customers' words, with their permission, and keep the original message and the permission on file (comments and references). The name, photo, date and any count shown beside a comment are part of what the viewer believes, so keep those true as well.

Here is where common testimonial and review practices land:

Testimonials and reviews under the rule

AllowedFine to do

• A real buyer's words, used with written permission
• The same small reward for every reviewer, whatever they write
• A review request sent to every buyer
• A staff review that says "I work for the company"
• Removing abusive or off-topic reviews under a policy applied to all
• Featuring your best reviews, with typical results disclosed

Banned or riskyDon't do

• Testimonials written by your team or an AI tool
• A free bottle for every 5-star review
• Asking only happy buyers to post (risky under the FTC Act)
• Hiding reviews under four stars while showing "all reviews"
• Threatening to sue over an honest bad review
• Bought followers, likes or views

Can you pay customers for reviews?

You can reward reviews; you can't buy a sentiment. Section 465.4 bans compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned on, a review that expresses a particular sentiment, positive or negative. The FTC's Q&A adds that paying for 5-star reviews breaks the rule even if the reviewer discloses the payment. An incentive for any honest review is allowed, but the FTC warns that hiding it could still violate the FTC Act, and the Endorsement Guides treat a free product plus cash for a review as a material connection that needs disclosing.

A review request that stays on the right side of the line (fictional example):

If you later feature one of those reviews as a testimonial, add a short note beside it, such as "Received a $5 credit for leaving a review."

Is review gating allowed?

Review gating means asking buyers how they feel first and then inviting only the happy ones to post in public. The rule has no specific ban on it, but the FTC's Q&A warns that it could violate the FTC Act. The Endorsement Guides describe a marketer who surveys recent buyers, invites only the very positive ones to post, and ends up with reviews substantially more positive than they would otherwise be. In the same example, inviting every recent buyer, even while hoping for good reviews, is fine. The decision rule is simple: ask everyone, or ask no one.

An honest review program has five steps:

An honest review program

1. 1Ask every buyerOne request to all buyers, after delivery
2. 2Reward any ratingThe same reward, or none, whatever they write
3. 3Publish by policyRemove only what you would remove from a 5-star review
4. 4Ask before featuringWritten permission to use a review as a testimonial
5. 5Keep the fileOriginal text, permission, order record, any reward

Insider reviews and "independent" review sites

Section 465.5 covers the people closest to you. An officer or manager who writes a review or testimonial about the business must disclose the relationship clearly and conspicuously. A business that spreads testimonials from its officers, managers, employees or agents must disclose the connection unless the audience can already see it. And a manager who asks staff or relatives to post reviews must tell them to disclose, and fix undisclosed reviews they know or should know about.

The FTC's Q&A gives a practical case: a small business owner may ask family members for reviews but must ask them to disclose the relationship. A generalized request sent to all buyers stays outside these provisions, even if some of those buyers are employees. Affiliates and paid creators fall under the material-connection rules of the Endorsement Guides; our UGC ads post covers working with creators.

Section 465.6 targets a format common in supplement marketing: the "independent" review or ranking site that the seller owns. If you control a site or organization that reviews a category of products, you can't present it as independent. A "Top 5 joint supplements" page you own that ranks your brand first has to say who owns it, and a presell built to look like an article needs an ad label too (advertorial guide).

What counts as review suppression?

Section 465.7 has two parts. First, you can't use unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or false public accusations made knowingly or recklessly, to stop a review from being written or to get it taken down. Second, you can't suppress reviews because they are negative and then present what's left as all or most of your reviews.

Removing a review is allowed when the reason applies equally to good and bad ones: trade secrets, defamatory or abusive content, personal information, discriminatory content, clearly false content, reviews you reasonably believe are fake, or reviews unrelated to what you sell. The FTC's Q&A adds that sorting reviews by helpfulness isn't suppression, and that showing 5-star reviews first isn't covered by the rule, though making negative reviews hard to find could still violate Section 5.

The FTC went after review suppression under the FTC Act before the rule existed. It alleged that Hey Dude suppressed more than 80% of online reviews that gave fewer than four stars. The company settled in September 2023 for $1.95 million, in a case that also covered shipping delays and refunds under the Mail Order Rule (FTC).

On a VSL page the line is practical. A curated "What customers say" section is fine, because the rule doesn't bar featuring positive reviews in marketing. Labeling it "all reviews", or showing a star average calculated only from the reviews you kept, is not. The FTC's Q&A also notes that non-representative reviews in marketing could be deceptive, so a featured review that shows an unusual result still needs a typical-results disclosure under the Endorsement Guides.

Fake followers, likes and views

Section 465.8 bans selling or buying fake indicators of social media influence: followers, likes, views, shares, comments and similar metrics generated by bots, fake accounts or hijacked accounts. It applies when the seller or buyer knew or should have known they were fake, and they serve to misrepresent someone's influence for a commercial purpose.

In a VSL funnel that means bought views on a YouTube upload of your video, bought followers for the brand page or the founder's account, and bought engagement on ads. The FTC's Q&A notes that hiring an influencer whose audience turns out to include fake followers isn't covered by this section. Buying the fakes yourself is.

What are the penalties, and has the FTC enforced the rule?

Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. When the FTC sent warning letters to 10 companies on December 22, 2025, it put the maximum at $53,088 per violation. The letters concerned possible violations, based on consumer complaints and information the companies had provided; the FTC didn't name the companies and said the letters are not formal findings that anyone broke the rule (FTC).

That maximum still applies. On September 15, 2026, the FTC said it will keep the 2025 penalty levels, because the 2026 inflation adjustment was canceled (Federal Register).

Liability reaches past the brand. The FTC's Q&A says ordinary consumers can't be liable under the rule for their own reviews, while influencers who sell testimonials, sellers of fake reviews, and agencies, PR firms and review brokers can be. The rule gives consumers no private right to sue. Fake proof has a second cost too: buyers who feel misled ask for refunds or dispute the charge, and every dispute counts toward the ratios your payment processor watches.

A fake reviews rule checklist for your VSL funnel

Run this before launch, and again whenever you add testimonials, comments or a new traffic source. The first three items carry the most risk.

Fake reviews rule checklist

• Every testimonial traces to a real buyer, with proof of purchase and written permission
• No AI-written, invented or composite testimonials, and no avatar voicing a fake customer
• Page comments are real customers' words, used with permission, with the originals saved
• Review requests go to every buyer, not only the happy ones
• No reward depends on the rating, and featured rewarded reviews say so
• Owners, staff and relatives disclose their connection next to their reviews
• A written moderation policy treats good and bad reviews the same way
• Nothing claims to show "all reviews" unless it does
• Any review or ranking site you own says so
• No bought followers, likes or views anywhere in the funnel
• Every testimonial that shows a result carries a typical-results disclosure

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If an item fails, fix it before you raise spend. Our VSL compliance guide covers the rest of the funnel: claims, disclaimers and subscription terms.