A recent report by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project (CAMP) reveals that fake online reviews are increasingly distorting market competition and endangering consumers. The study, citing British government research, estimates that between 11 and 15 per cent of reviews for common e-commerce products are fake. Small business owner Nick Ford of Integrity Masonry in Ottawa describes how competitors now rapidly accumulate positive reviews, often leading to poor-quality work and financial harm for clients. The report identifies a thriving black market for fake reviews, with services offering to boost ratings or smear competitors for fees ranging from US$20 to US$1,500. Platforms like Amazon and Google claim to have policies against fake reviews, with Amazon blocking hundreds of millions of suspicious ratings in 2025 and Google removing over 292 million reviews last year. However, researcher Emily Osborne questions whether these platforms prioritize removing fake reviews, noting that "a dollar spent on a misrepresented product is still a dollar spent on the platform." The report calls for Canadian regulators to implement legislation requiring platforms to publicly warn consumers about businesses using fake reviews, share information on bad actors, and report regulated professionals like doctors and lawyers who rely on fabricated ratings. It also highlights how fake reviews lead to hazardous products being promoted, such as faulty oven mitts or counterfeit baby car seats, and how AI is making it easier to create convincing fake reviews. Australia has explicitly banned fake reviews, while Britain has implemented "name and shame" measures. The Canadian Competition Bureau is currently investigating Amazon over fake reviews, though previous fines have been limited to cases where companies purchased fake reviews, not the platforms hosting them.

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