Remember that time you fell for those great reviews only to receive a piece of junk in the mail?

Or maybe you were tempted by a “diner’s” delicious description of a restaurant’s food that turned out to be slop.

Those misleading reviews may soon be a thing of the past.

What Is Happening To Shady Online Reviews?

Like you, the Federal Trade Commission has had enough of businesses trying to pass off fake reviews as being actual customer feedback.

“Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a press release.

To combat that, the FTC is looking to stop businesses from gaming the system with a new set of rules.

• Fake or false consumer reviews, consumer testimonials and celebrity testimonials will be prohibited. This includes businesses who get people to leave reviews without experiencing a product and AI-generated reviews.
• Buying positive or negative reviews is prohibited. This is meant to put a stop to businesses offering perks such as discounts to people who leave positive reviews.
• Insider reviews and consumer testimonials are prohibited. No more leaving reviews for your own business.
• Company-controlled review websites are prohibited. Some companies create their own websites to review their products and services. This will end.
• Review suppression is prohibited. The FTC says it will keep businesses “from using unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or certain false public accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review.”
• “Misuse of fake social media indicators” is prohibited. This covers businesses that buy social media followers to misrepresent their “influence or importance.”

All of this is expect to go into effect sometime in the next two months.

How Yelp Has Started Calling Out Businesses For Fake Reviews

To get a snapshot of how big of an issue this really is, popular review website Yelp tracks how often businesses use questionable tactics on its platform.

Yelp routinely places alerts on business pages once it has determined the location is going against the website’s terms of service. In the past 12 years, Yelp has needed to put more than 5,500 Compensated Activity and Suspicious Review Activity alerts on business pages.

READ MORE: Florida Chipotle Gets Drama With Side Of Guac In Online Reviews

Violations range from restaurants displaying posters promising discounts for positive feedback on Yelp to multiple reviews for a business coming from the same IP address.

You can access a listing of businesses that have been busted by Yelp on its website. There, you’ll also find actual evidence showing how each business tried to be sneaky and pull a fast one on future customers.