Online reviews are regulated: the obligation to state whether reviews are verified, the ban on fake and purchased reviews, sanctions from the French consumer authority, GDPR rules for the data collected when asking for a review. These articles summarise the French and European legal framework, the ISO 20488 standard, and what a business concretely risks by buying Google reviews.
Key reference points: since 1 January 2018, French law requires any website that publishes reviews to state whether they are checked and how. Since 28 May 2022, the EU Omnibus directive classes fake and purchased reviews as misleading commercial practices; in France they can lead to two years' imprisonment and a €300,000 fine for an individual. Asking for a review by email or SMS also uses personal data: under the GDPR, the customer must be informed and able to opt out.
If you receive a review you believe is fraudulent, see handling negative reviews. Collecting within the rules is also the approach that lasts: monbizness never blocks or buys reviews (plans and pricing).
