The Omnibus Directive and reviews: what do businesses need to sort out?
The Omnibus Directive (EU) 2019/2161 modernised EU consumer law. A lot changed for businesses that display reviews. Below you can read what the rules mean for your website, your widgets and the way you work. This applies to selling to consumers in the EU; it is general information, not legal advice.
What is the Omnibus Directive?
The Omnibus Directive amends several existing EU consumer directives, including the rules on unfair commercial practices, consumer rights and price indication. Member States had to apply the rules from 28 May 2022. In the Netherlands they are included in the Civil Code, among other places, and the ACM is the regulator.
The aim is to protect consumers better online, with more transparency about reviews, the order of search results, discounts and sellers on online marketplaces.
Breaking the rules can lead to a fine. Regulators can impose fines, among other measures, for infringements. For widespread infringements across several EU countries that regulators tackle jointly, the directive requires Member States to allow fines with a maximum of at least 4 per cent of annual turnover in the countries concerned. Where that turnover is unknown, the maximum must be at least 2 million euros. This is a floor for the highest possible fine, not a fixed amount: the actual fine depends on factors such as the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement.
Duty 1: say whether and how you check reviews
If you show reviews on your website, you must make clear whether you check that they come from customers who actually used or bought the product, and if so, how. This information counts as essential for consumers; leaving it out can be misleading.
Place that explanation with the reviews themselves, for example with a short sentence and a link to a page about how you work. Describe specifically what you do: who receives an invitation, whether you check for a purchase, how you handle negative reviews and whether incentivised reviews are labelled. If you do not check anything, say so too.
For example: ‘Only customers with an order receive an invitation. Reviews are checked against our guidelines before publication; we publish critical reviews too.’ Adapt such a sentence to what you actually do.
If you use a widget from a review platform, also link to that platform’s explanation. Whatever you promise about reviews on your own site remains your responsibility.
Put the explanation where it can be seen next to your reviews or review score, not just in your terms and conditions. In the 2022 European sweep, this information was often only in the terms, where few visitors look.
Prohibited: fake reviews and selective display
Practices on the EU blacklist of unfair commercial practices are always prohibited; a regulator does not have to show that they influenced consumers’ behaviour. The Dutch regulator ACM has already taken action against the trade in fake reviews and fake likes. Since the Omnibus Directive, the list includes these review-related practices, among others:
- Claiming that reviews come from real users without taking reasonable and proportionate steps to check this
- Posting fake reviews yourself or commissioning others to do so
- Misrepresenting reviews or social media endorsements, for example by showing only positive reviews
Other Omnibus rules that affect your online shop
The directive covers more than reviews. As an online shop, these are the parts you are most likely to encounter:
- Discounts: if you announce a price reduction, the ‘was’ price is the lowest price you charged in the previous 30 days
- Ranking: explain the main criteria that determine the order of search results, and make paid placements recognisable
- Personalised prices: disclose when a price has been personalised on the basis of automated decision-making
- Marketplaces: show whether the seller is a trader
Checklist for your website
Unsure how this applies to you? In the Netherlands, the ACM’s guidelines on protecting online consumers give examples; the European Commission has also published guidance on the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. If in doubt, ask a lawyer to take a look. In any case, go through these points:
- Next to your reviews there is a short explanation with a link: how we collect and check reviews
- You invite all customers in the same way
- Negative reviews stay visible unless they breach your published guidelines
- Incentivised or sponsored reviews are clearly labelled
- You do not present reviews of another product or location as reviews of this product
- You record how you collect reviews, so you can demonstrate it
Frequently asked questions
May I show reviews from another platform on my site? Yes, if you make clear where they come from and how that platform checks reviews. Do not present them as reviews you have checked yourself if you have not.
Do I have to check every review? The directive does not require you to check everything, but it does require you to say honestly whether and how you do. If you claim that reviews come from genuine buyers, you must take reasonable and proportionate steps to back that up.
May I reward customers for a review? A reward is not necessarily prohibited, but it must be clear to readers and must not depend on a positive rating. Google does not allow rewards for reviews at all.
Do the rules also apply to service businesses? Yes. The rules on unfair commercial practices cover products, and that includes services.
And reviews from before May 2022? In practice, what matters is how you display reviews now. Older reviews on your site are therefore also covered by the information duty.
How trustmark.site helps
On trustmark.site every new review starts as ‘awaiting review’ and is only published after checking. Reviews linked to a purchase get their own label, separate from open reviews, and critical reviews remain just as visible as positive ones. Our page on review checks explains how this works; you can link to it from your own website.
A review that a customer writes after an order via a personal invitation link can be linked to that purchase. That lets you show the difference between reviews with and without a linked purchase.
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