Ministry of Trade audits artificial engagement in online shopping
The Advertising Board has increased its inspections of businesses that mislead consumers on e-commerce platforms through methods such as fake reviews, likes, and followers.
The Ministry of Trade's Advertising Board has placed fake interactions that make products appear more popular than they actually are on online shopping platforms under scrutiny. Emphasizing that these practices, which manipulate consumer decisions, are contrary to regulations, access blocking decisions have begun to be implemented for the identified content.
Artificial interaction methods are being examined
The Advertising Board is closely monitoring artificial interactions such as fake reviews, likes, followers, and 5-star ratings used to make products appear more preferred. It is stated that these methods misleadingly influence consumers' purchasing decisions.
Practices within the scope of manipulation
Within the scope of the investigations, practices such as receiving paid services to have products added to favorites or shopping carts have been placed under scrutiny. Furthermore, directing individuals who have not purchased the product to leave reviews has also been defined as a misleading commercial practice.
Legal regulations and sanctions
The Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices prohibits having non-factual evaluations made for the purpose of increasing sales. The Board has also deemed actions such as deleting or hiding negative reviews to be in violation of regulations and has issued access blocking decisions for numerous URLs.