In Today’s world, consumers shape their decisions largely based on user reviews on the internet when buying for everything from electronic devices to cosmetic products. Experiences shared on e-commerce platforms have become an important reference source for potential buyers, while also playing a critical role in increasing customer satisfaction and building trust for companies. Positive reviews increase interest in a product, while negative feedback has become directly influential on consumer decisions.
While user reviews on e-commerce platforms guide potential buyers, fake negative reviews both mislead consumers and create unfair competition. Some users may post unsubstantiated claims with the aim of expressing personal dissatisfaction, supporting rival companies, or requesting discounts and free services from businesses. Meanwhile, organized groups or individuals also manipulate by posting unfounded reviews on advertisement pages of e-commerce platforms to discredit brands. Such manipulations harm businesses while causing consumers to be misled and disrupting the fair competitive environment.
In this context, due to the risk of consumer reviews seriously damaging companies’ reputations, significant regulations have been made in Turkish Law with the Commercial Advertisement and Unfair Commercial Practices Regulation. According to the regulation, it has been stated that only real consumers who have purchased the product or experienced the service should be able to participate in evaluations about products or services on e-commerce platforms. Additionally, it has been emphasized that reviews should be checked before being published for compliance with certain criteria regulated in other legislation, especially the principles and rules determined by companies, thus aiming to prevent companies from being unfairly harmed due to negative reviews.
In recet years The Advertising Board under the Ministry of Commerce has begun to examine consumer reviews on e-commerce platforms and their manipulative effects more carefully. In this context, in a decision given by the Advertising Board on 08.10.2024, a review made on the advertisement page of a shoe brand on a well-known e-commerce platform was evaluated. In the review in question, a consumer expressed dissatisfaction with the price change of the purchased product in a short time and disliked the quality of the product, giving it a low rating, but the e-commerce platform had removed this review.
In its examination, the Advertising Board determined that the platform’s review removal process was in compliance with the review rules determined by the platform and that there was no illegal situation, and also decided that there was no violation of law made by the company in the advertisements.
However, in a decision given by the Advertising Board on 16.01.2025, reviews made on the advertisement page of a textile brand on a publicly known digital platform were examined. In the evaluation, it was determined that many positive reviews shared consecutively were quite similar in nature and repeated each other in terms of content. Due to the reviews’ inability to provide semantic integrity within themselves and containing the same positive expressions, it was concluded that these review texts were presented to consumers as ready-made templates.
In conclusion, the manipulation of consumer reviews on digital platforms can negatively affect fair competition environment as well as damaging the reputation of businesses. In Turkish Law, comprehensive regulations have been introduced to prevent such manipulations, and the Advertising Board examines such situations meticulously. For consumers to access accurate and reliable information and for a fair competitive environment to be provided, it is of great importance that platforms be more careful and transparent in review supervision.
Turkish Law aims to protect both consumers and businesses with regulations aimed at preventing unfair commercial practices. In this context, the requirement that only people who have purchased the product or experienced the service can write reviews and that reviews to be published are checked for compliance with certain standards ensures the prevention of negative reviews that would be published unfairly.
The decisions made by the Advertising Board also constitute an important step towards preventing negative manipulations in the sector. However, not only legal regulations but also businesses adopting an approach that carries ethical responsibility play a critical role in maintaining trust and accuracy on digital platforms. Thus, both consumers’ access to accurate information and companies’ protection from unfair criticism are ensured.
Atakan ÖZYURT
Attorney At Law