Is it illegal to buy Google reviews in the UK?
Paid Google reviews are now explicitly illegal in the UK, and Google has agreed to put warnings on the profiles of businesses that use them. Here’s what counts, what happens if you’re caught, and what you can do instead.
- Since April 2025, UK consumer law explicitly bans buying, writing or commissioning fake reviews, and the CMA can fine businesses up to 10% of global turnover.
- Google has agreed with the CMA to put a warning on the profile of UK businesses caught boosting their rating with fake reviews, and to stop them receiving new reviews.
- Offering a discount or gift in return for a review is also banned, by Google and by the CMA’s guidance.
- Asking real customers, with a link or QR code, is allowed and works.
Search for “buy Google reviews” and you’ll find plenty of sites happy to sell five-star ratings by the dozen. For a UK business, buying them is a real risk: it’s illegal, Google is actively looking for it, and the penalty is a warning label that every customer sees.
This guide explains what the law bans, what Google does to businesses that get caught, and the legal ways to get more reviews. Genuine reviews are one of the strongest signals behind Google Maps SEO in Birmingham and everywhere else, so it’s worth building them properly.
What UK law says
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act made fake reviews a banned practice from April 2025. Banned practices are automatically unfair and illegal, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) can fine businesses up to 10% of their global turnover.
| Banned | Example |
|---|---|
| Buying fake reviews | Paying a website or freelancer for five-star reviews |
| Writing your own | Posting reviews from your own or staff accounts |
| Commissioning someone else to write them | An agency or friend posting reviews on your behalf |
| Hiding incentivised reviews | Rewarding reviews without making that clear |
| Hiding negative reviews | Suppressing genuine bad reviews so only good ones show |
The CMA has been clear that this includes marketing agencies. In one case it found an SEO and marketing company had written over 800 fake positive reviews for 86 small businesses, including car dealers, mechanics and tradespeople. The CMA wrote to those businesses to warn that third parties writing fake reviews for them might mean they were breaking the law themselves.
What Google does if it catches you
In January 2025, Google gave the CMA formal undertakings to deal with fake reviews about UK businesses. They commit Google to:
- Put a warning on your profile. UK businesses that boost their rating with fake reviews get a prominent warning alert that customers can see, for at least 30 days on a first offence.
- Block new reviews. The business can’t receive new reviews while the sanction applies.
- Delete reviews for repeat offenders. Businesses that keep doing it can have all their reviews removed for six months or more.
- Ban fake reviewers. People who repeatedly post fake reviews for UK businesses have their reviews deleted and are banned from posting, wherever they live.
Google also removes fake reviews under its own Maps content policy, which bans paid reviews, reviews posted from multiple accounts by one person, and reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as from staff, former staff or family.
The grey areas, answered
| Can I… | Answer |
|---|---|
| Give a discount for a review? | No. Google bans any incentive for posting, changing or removing a review. |
| Enter reviewers into a prize draw? | No. A prize draw is still a reward for reviewing. |
| Ask staff, friends or family to review? | No. Google treats this as a conflict of interest. |
| Swap reviews with another business? | No. Neither of you is reviewing a genuine customer experience. |
| Ask every customer for a review? | Yes. Google recommends it. |
| Send customers a review link or QR code? | Yes. Google suggests receipts, emails, chats and printed QR codes. |
| Reply to reviews, good and bad? | Yes. It shows customers you care. |
What if a competitor is buying reviews?
Look for patterns: a burst of five-star reviews in a few days, reviewers with no photo and only one review, or near-identical wording. You can report suspicious reviews on any business from Google Maps. As part of its undertakings, Google also committed to make it easier to report reviews posted in exchange for payment or a reward.
If a fake review is on your own profile, see how to remove a Google review for the reporting and appeal steps.
Legal ways to get more Google reviews
- Ask at the right moment. Straight after a finished job or a good visit, when the customer is pleased.
- Make it one tap. Send a direct review link by text, email or WhatsApp. You can make one, with a QR code and a printable counter card, with our free Google review link generator.
- Put it in front of people. A QR code or review card at the counter, on invoices and on receipts.
- Ask everyone. Not just the customers you expect to be happy. Google says a mix of reviews often feels more trustworthy.
- Reply to every review. See our reply templates.
A steady flow of genuine reviews beats a sudden burst of bought ones, for customers and for Google.
Sources
- CMA: CMA secures important changes from Google to tackle fake reviews
- Google’s undertaking to the CMA (PDF)
- CMA: Fake reviews guidance (CMA208)
- CMA: CMA takes enforcement action against fake online reviews
- Google: Prohibited and restricted content (Maps)
- Google: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to buy Google reviews in the UK?
Yes. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, posting or commissioning fake reviews has been a banned practice since April 2025. The CMA can investigate and fine businesses up to 10% of their global turnover.
Can I give customers a discount for leaving a Google review?
No. Google says offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for posting, changing or removing a review is fake engagement and strictly prohibited. Reviews you get this way can be removed, and your profile can be restricted.
Can my staff or family leave Google reviews?
They shouldn’t. Google’s policy treats reviews from people with a conflict of interest, including current or former staff and family members, as rating manipulation, and removes them.
What happens if Google catches a business with fake reviews?
Under its undertakings to the CMA, Google puts a warning alert on the business’s profile and blocks new reviews, for at least 30 days on a first offence. Businesses that do it repeatedly can have all their reviews deleted for six months or more.
Is 20 Google reviews good?
It depends on your trade and area. In our November 2026 check of the Birmingham Google Maps top 20, the median was 70 reviews for plumbers, 12.5 for electricians and 5 for builders. Compare yourself with the businesses that appear above you for your main search, and aim for a steady flow of genuine reviews rather than a target number.