Fake Stars, Real Lawsuits: How Review Hijacking Can Kill Your Brand

In this episode of Marketing on Trial, Emma Rainville and Ryan Poteet of Gordon Reese break down a legal time bomb hiding on your product pages: fake reviews. Whether it’s gifted products, “helpful” testimonial swaps, or syndicating five-star feedback across SKUs, the FTC’s new rule under 16 CFR Part 465 draws a hard line. And enforcement is heating up.

We dissect the difference between a review and a testimonial, expose review hijacking tactics that are now legally risky, and give you a review sourcing process you can actually defend. If your product relies on stars to convert — don’t miss this.

We cover:

• What counts as deceptive under the FTC’s new fake review rule
• Why incentivized reviews = legal testimonials (and what that means)
• The difference between curating vs. suppressing UGC (yes, it matters)
• Disclosure placement: what “clear and conspicuous” really looks like
• A 4-part compliant review sourcing framework you can implement today
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Timestamps:

• (0:00) Fake stars can earn you a real lawsuit
• (2:20) Why incentivized = testimonial, not review
• (5:45) What’s legal vs. illegal on Amazon, Shopify, and your own site
• (10:10) How to safely disclose material connections (FTC-style)
• (14:05) Review hijacking examples that will get you flagged
• (20:00) Building a compliant review sourcing process
• (25:45) How long do you need to keep review records?

Download the Get Compliant Review Guide free in the Visionary Vault — everything you need to audit your reviews and stay lawsuit-proof.

Explore Free Resources at the Visionary Vault:

https://specialopspodcast.com/visionary-vault

Get in Touch with Ryan Poteet:

Website: https://www.grsm.com/   

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-poteet-43098ba  

Get in Touch with Emma Rainville: 

Website: https://specialopspodcast.com/    

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@specialopspodcast   

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emma_rainville512/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmarainvilleoperationsguru