Poland: Penalties for companies publishing false reviews

Published

Jan 26 2023

Written By

I am a partner based in Warsaw. My main focus is on IP, digital transformation and e-commerce. I combine expertise in contentious IP, technology and retail & consumer regulations.

In November 2022, the President of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection ("UOKiK") fined two companies for publishing false reviews and ratings of products and services on online platforms. Such actions were deemed to infringe consumer collective interests and constitute unfair market practice.

Unfair practices

First case

The company Opinie.pro offered entrepreneurs to obtain positive reviews, ratings and likes on comments on Google business cards, Facebook reviews, as well as on other price and service comparison sites, such as TripAdvisor. Such ratings and opinions were created without any contact with the product or service, but were based on information available on the internet or obtained in exchange for giving a positive opinion to others. Later, the company ordered opinions from contractors in Asia.
The company advertised its services by saying: Buy Google reviews with ratings that positively influence the online perception of your brand. In addition, ratings enriched with a few positive sentences inspire more trust and look neutral. We take care to change browsers and mobile devices and ensure that ratings are issued from different IP addresses, which increases the credibility of the reviews.

According to UOKiK, such practices are contrary to the accepted…