Competition law (UWG) and fake reviews: what is unfair

In short: The UWG prohibits misleading advertising, aggressive practices and bought or faked reviews; competitors and associations can issue cease-and-desist letters and demand injunctions.

In more detail: The Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) protects consumers, competitors and the fair market. Whoever trades commercially must know its rules: violations lead to warnings, cease-and-desist declarations, damages and fines.

In Depth

Typical violations

• Misleading: false statements on goods, price, origin, availability (“only 2 left” without truth), fake strike-through prices, “test winner” without proof, inflated reference prices.
• Disguised advertising (see labelling), covert advertising.
• Aggressive practices: pressure, harassment (unsolicited advertising emails/calls, §7 UWG).
• Comparative advertising: allowed only under conditions (verifiable, factual, not disparaging).
• Disparagement of competitors, imitation (products/brands, exploiting reputation).
• Missing mandatory information (imprint, withdrawal notice, price details) often counts as breach of law, subject to warning.
• Fake reviews: bought, self-written, simulated reviews; selecting only good ratings.

Handling reviews correctly

• Forbidden: buying or ghost-writing reviews, advertising a reward for positive reviews, having negative reviews deleted by threats, faked stars.
• Allowed: asking customers neutrally for a review (regardless of content), replying factually, reporting violations to the portal.
• Mandatory information (Omnibus Directive): whoever displays reviews must state whether and how it is verified that they come from actual buyers.
• Own opinion on competition: statements of fact must be true, abusive criticism forbidden.
• Providers (Google, Trustpilot, platforms) have own guidelines; violations lead to blocks.

Warning and response

Competitors, competition associations and consumer associations can warn and demand a penalty-backed cease-and-desist declaration. Under the Anti-Abuse-of-Warnings Act rules against mass warnings were tightened (cost reimbursement limited for certain violations for small businesses, duty for clear information). React correctly: mind the deadline, do not sign blindly (pre-drafted declarations are often too broad), ask a lawyer/consumer centre/trade association, stop the violation immediately, secure evidence. Legal expenses insurance can help.

Preventing

• Checklist before publishing: imprint, prices incl. VAT (Price Indication Ordinance: total price, unit price), shipping costs, withdrawal, privacy, labelling, image rights.
• Word statements so they are provable.
• Strike-through prices only with the lowest price of the last 30 days as reference for discounts.
• Templates from reputable legal-text providers/trade associations, update regularly.
• Documentation (screenshots, date).
• Respect towards competitors. This page is not legal advice; for concrete cases a specialist lawyer for commercial legal protection.

See also: Cease-and-desist, Labelling obligations, Social media marketing, Email marketing