FTC Fake Review Rule: 6 Bans, Up to $53,088 a Violation

The FTC fake review rule, 16 CFR Part 465, bans six practices: fake or false reviews, buying reviews tied to sentiment, undisclosed insider reviews, company-controlled sites posing as independent, review suppression through threats, and fake social media indicators. The FTC announced the rule on August 14, 2024, and it took effect on October 21, 2024. Civil penalties reach $53,088 per violation.

What does the FTC fake review rule ban?

The FTC fake review rule bans six practices, each tied to its own section of 16 CFR Part 465. The FTC approved the rule on a 5-0 vote when it announced it on August 14, 2024, according to Consumer Finance Monitor.

The section summaries follow analyses by Hogan Lovells and Morgan Lewis, and the FTC's own press release on the final rule. Paid influencer posts fall under a related set of rules, the Endorsement Guides, which EPR explains in its FTC influencer disclosure guide.

What are the penalties under the FTC fake review rule?

The FTC can seek civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation of the fake review rule, the amount in 16 CFR 1.98 for penalties assessed after January 17, 2025. A 2026 Federal Register notice says the FTC will keep applying the 2025 levels because the Office of Management and Budget cancelled the 2026 inflation adjustment in a memo dated April 17, 2026.

The rule also lets courts impose civil penalties and lets the FTC seek compensation for affected consumers, according to White & Case. Penalty amounts are reviewed each year, so check the current figure before citing it.

Who is liable under the FTC fake review rule?

Businesses are liable under the rule, including the marketers and agents who work for them, according to Hogan Lovells. For the fake review provision, liability turns on whether the business knew or should have known the reviews were fake, per Consumer Finance Monitor.

Two exemptions matter in practice. Morgan Lewis notes that the rule does not reach reviews that result from general solicitations sent to large groups of customers, where a business could not reasonably know whether the reviews were fake, or reviews that result from consumer review hosting.

How has the FTC enforced the rule so far?

The FTC has enforced the rule through warning letters and two cases that cite it, according to DLA Piper's July 27, 2026 analysis. The table lists each step.

Premium Home Service filed a motion to dismiss on July 17, 2026. It argues that the examples of fake reviews in the complaint date from early 2024, before the rule took effect.

Mark Meador, an FTC Commissioner, wrote in a concurring statement that the alleged scheme was "harming both the consumers and those providers" who had genuine reviews. DLA Piper observed that rule violations so far appear alongside other deceptive conduct, and that the rule was the only legal basis for the money award in the TruHeight case.

What should brands and agencies do to comply?

Brands and agencies can comply by auditing the four practices that the FTC's first warning letters and cases targeted. The steps below follow the conduct alleged in those matters.

1. End incentives that depend on a rating. The December 2025 letters went to companies that offered lease discounts, gift cards or similar rewards for positive reviews, per DLA Piper.
2. Remove employee reviews that pose as customer reviews. The TruHeight complaint alleged reviews written by employees posing as real users.
3. Audit every vendor that produces reviews, listings or social proof. The rule reaches marketers and agents, and the test is what the business knew or should have known. Review internal communication channels for coordination as part of that audit.
4. Answer negative reviews instead of suppressing them. Section 465.7 targets groundless legal threats and intimidation.

EPR's guides to online reputation management and corporate reputation management cover what legitimate programs do instead, and PR versus reputation management separates the two disciplines. To vet a vendor, see the reputation firms that actually run this work.

Are AI-generated reviews covered by the rule?

AI-generated reviews are covered by the rule's ban on fake or false reviews, because the FTC's announcements expressly said the rule contemplates them, according to White & Case. The FTC's wider pattern of AI enforcement is covered in EPR's analysis of Operation AI Comply.

Fake reviews also matter to AI answer tools that summarize customer sentiment, because those tools can draw on published reviews. Brands can test what AI tools say about them with EPR's AI visibility audit. The wider topic sits under AI reputation management and AI communications.