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FTC fake reviews rule: consumer reviews and testimonials explained

The FTC Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials went into effect on October 21, 2024 and allows courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Ask the assistant what it means for your review requests, your website and your influencer campaigns.

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Answers are written by a language model solely from this base's documents, with numbered sources. They can be wrong and aren't legal, medical or financial advice: check the sources before any important decision.

Incentives and insider reviews

The rule does not ban incentives for reviews, as long as there is no express or implied requirement that the review be positive or negative. "Tell us how much you loved your visit and get a coupon" implies it must be positive. Paying for five-star reviews violates the rule even with a disclosure.

Reviews by employees or relatives need a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the relationship. Generalized review requests sent to all purchasers are exempt, even if some recipients are employees.

Review suppression and fake followers

You can respond publicly to a negative review, but not with accusations you know are false, physical threats or intimidation to get it removed. Threatening legal action remains possible when you have a legitimate basis. Ordering reviews by helpfulness is not suppression under the rule.

The rule also covers buying fake indicators of social media influence, such as bot followers, when a business knew or should have known they were fake.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to screen every review posted on my site?

No. Merely hosting reviews is exempt, even if you prompt submissions or show star ratings. You could be liable if you wrote fake reviews or bought reviews you knew or should have known were false.

Are testimonials on my own website covered?

Yes. Putting testimonials on your own site is disseminating them, not hosting them, and consumer reviews featured in your ads become testimonials.

Does the rule ban AI-generated avatars in marketing?

No blanket ban. An avatar's message is prohibited only if the underlying testimonial is fake or false, but using a celebrity avatar without permission to praise a product would violate the rule.

For developers and agents

Embed / API / MCP

Connect this base to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or your own app. Each API or MCP request costs €0.10, charged to your Kopik credit (not charged if nothing is found). You need an API key: create one from your dashboard.

MCP for your agents

This base's MCP server URL (tools ask_base and search_base):

MCP URL
https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing
Claude Code, Cursor and other clients
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http kopik-ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing" --header "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…"
JSON config (mcpServers)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kopik-ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing": {
      "url": "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer kpk_…"
      }
    }
  }
}

REST API for your apps

mode is "answer" (written answer + sources) or "passages" (raw passages only). Add an optional maxPriceCents to cap the price: if the base costs more, the call is refused and nothing is charged.

curl
curl -X POST https://kopik.io/api/v1/bases/ftc-advertising-endorsements-email-marketing/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question": "Your question here", "mode": "answer"}'

Getting started

  1. Create a key in your dashboard and top up your credit.
  2. Replace kpk_… with your key.
  3. Full details (responses, errors, JS and Python examples): developer docs.