NAD recently announced a decision involving Pyle Audio’s campaign to generate reviews for its NutriChef brand vacuum sealers. When consumers received their products, they would find a card promising them two rolls of vacuum sealing bags in exchange for leaving a review on Amazon.com. Near that promise, the card included the words “love this” and
NAD Doesn’t Trust Trustpilot Reviews
If a review site ranks your product as the top in a category, can you advertise that you’re “number 1” in that category? Not necessarily. A recent NAD decision explains why.
A competitor challenged TaxSlayer’s claim that it was “#1 Rated in the Tax Prep Software Category on Trustpilot.” NAD started its decision with a
FTC Settles with Companies that Sought to Prevent Bad Reviews
The Consumer Review Fairness Act was enacted in 2016 to protect consumers’ ability to share their opinions about 
businesses. In general, the law prohibits companies from using form contracts that: (a) prohibit or restrict consumers from reviewing a business’ goods, services, or conduct; (b) impose penalties or fees on consumers for those reviews; or (c)
FTC Settlement Addresses Free Trials and Incentivized Reviews
This week, the FTC announced a settlement with UrthBox and its president that addresses two topics that we frequently cover on this blog: (1) free trials; and (2) incentivized reviews.
Free Trial
The FTC alleged that Urthbox offered a “free” trial of its snack boxes for a nominal shipping and handling fee. 
For some consumers,
FTC Announces Settlement Involving Fake Amazon Reviews
This week, the FTC announced its first case involving fake reviews on an independent website.
Cure Encapsulations sells a weight-loss product exclusively on Amazon. When the company wanted to boost its sales, its owner turned to Amazon Verified Reviews (or “AVR,” for short), a website that offers Amazon sellers services designed to “push your product
NAD Examines When Companies may be Liable for Consumer Reviews
We frequently get questions about whether companies can be held liable for claims that appear in consumer reviews. Although it’s clear that there are instances in which a company can be held liable if it has a connection to the person who wrote the review, it has been less clear to what extent a company
NY AG Announces Settlement Over Fake Followers
In the world of social media, a person’s power is often measured in terms of followers. Because more followers generally means more reach, companies who engage influencers often base their compensation on this metric. But follower counts may not always be what they seem. According to a New York Times report last year, influencers can
FTC Settlement Addresses Influencers and Native Ads
Two companies and their principals have agreed to settle FTC allegations that they misled consumers by presenting paid endorsements as independent consumer reviews and ads as independent news stories.
Creaxion, a PR agency, was tasked with creating a campaign to promote a client’s new mosquito repellent product around the time the press was reporting about
FTC Takes Action Against Social Media Influencers
This morning, the FTC announced that it had reached a settlement in its first-ever complaint against individual social media influencers and that it had sent warning letters to other prominent influencers. In addition, the FTC announced that it had updated previous guidance on influencer campaigns.
Settlement
The settlement involves Trevor Martin and Thomas Cassell, owners
Consumer Groups Push for More Regulation of Influencers
In November, we posted that four consumer groups had sent letters to FTC, encouraging the agency to investigate and bring enforcement actions regarding the use of influencers on Instagram. In April, the FTC responded by sending more than 90 letters to companies and influencers, reminding the recipients of their legal obligations. Now, the consumer groups