Autotrader and Just Eat are among five companies being investigated by the competitions watchdog as part of a crackdown on fake and misleading reviews.
The marketplace platforms are among five companies which may have infringed consumer law, says the Competition and Markets Authority.
In April 2025, several practices relating to online reviews became 鈥榖anned practices鈥� under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, meaning they are automatically deemed unfair and illegal.聽
This includes obtaining and posting fake reviews, and paid-for reviews that are not clearly marked as incentivised. It also covers how reviews are handled 鈥� for example, if negative reviews are hidden, or if star ratings present an inaccurate picture.
Autotrader and Feefo are being probed over the treatment of negative reviews. It is looking into whether a number of 1鈥憇tar reviews 鈥� which were moderated by Feefo 鈥� were not published on Autotrader鈥檚 platform, and were not counted towards star ratings, therefore denying consumers a fully rounded picture of other customers鈥� experiences.
An Autotrader spokesperson said: 鈥淲e note that the CMA, exercising its new direct consumer enforcement powers, has today announced an investigation into a number of companies, including Autotrader and our third-party moderator, in relation to online consumer reviews.
“We endeavour always to operate as a responsible and compliant business and will co鈥憃perate fully with the CMA鈥檚 investigation.鈥�
The CMA is looking into whether Just Eat鈥檚 ratings system has inflated certain restaurants鈥� and grocers鈥� star ratings 鈥� giving consumers a potentially misleading picture of quality when choosing where to order.
Funerals firm Dignity is being investigated over misleading reviews – specifically whether it asked staff to write positive reviews about the company鈥檚 crematoria services, giving people a potentially inaccurate picture of genuine customers鈥� feedback.
The CMA is looking into whether Pasta Evangelists offered customers discounts on future orders in exchange for leaving 5-star reviews on delivery apps, without this being disclosed 鈥� meaning people may not have known how reliable or representative those ratings were.
While the CMA is investigating these five businesses, it has not reached any conclusions about whether consumer law has been broken, it said.聽
鈥淔ake reviews strike at the heart of consumer trust 鈥� with many of us worrying about misleading content when looking at reviews online,鈥� said Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA.
鈥淲ith household budgets under pressure, people need to know they鈥檙e getting genuine information 鈥� not reviews or star-ratings that have been manipulated to push them towards the wrong choice.聽聽聽
鈥淲e鈥檝e given businesses the time to get things right. Now we鈥檙e deploying our new powers to tackle some of the most harmful practices head on.鈥�
If the CMA finds an infringement of the law, it can require businesses to change their practices and impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover.聽
How the investigations unfold will depend on the nature of the evidence. They could result in a finding of unlawful conduct, the imposition of remedies, or case closures.