Are fake Google reviews illegal in Australia?

Fake Google reviews can be illegal in Australia, but which law applies depends on who wrote the review, why, and what it says. This page sets out the legal position; it is not a how-to guide for reporting.

Written by Konrad Weber · Reviewed by Andrew Foster, Review Removal Specialist · Updated 2026-10-11

For the practical steps to report a review, see the guide on how to report a fake Google review. For our commercial service, see remove fake Google reviews. This page is about legality and liability.

What counts as "fake"

There is no single legal definition of a fake review. In practice the term covers several distinct things, and the law treats them differently:

Self-promotion: a business, its staff or its agents posting positive reviews of itself while posing as customers.
Paid or incentivised reviews: reviews bought from a supplier, or given in exchange for a benefit, without disclosure.
Competitor attacks: a rival business posting negative reviews of a competitor.
Non-customer reviews: someone who never dealt with the business describing an experience that did not happen — for example, as part of a review-bombing campaign or an extortion attempt.
Conflict-of-interest reviews: reviews by current or former employees, owners or people with a business relationship, which Google treats as a policy issue even if the content is true.

The Australian Consumer Law

Where a business or someone acting for it creates, buys or arranges fake reviews, the ACL is the main legal framework. Section 18 prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce, and s 29(1)(e)–(f) prohibits false or misleading representations that purport to be testimonials. Under s 29(2), a testimonial representation is presumed misleading unless evidence to the contrary is produced. Pecuniary penalties under s 29 can be substantial, and the Federal Court has penalised businesses for fake testimonials and review manipulation in cases brought by the ACCC. The details and examples are on the Australian Consumer Law page.

Competitor attacks are also conduct in trade or commerce. A business that posts false negative reviews about a rival may be engaging in misleading conduct towards consumers who read them, and the rival may be able to seek an injunction or damages. The obstacle is evidence: courts need proof of who posted the reviews.

Defamation

A fake negative review that makes false factual claims about an identifiable person can be defamatory. Fakery helps the target in one important way: a reviewer who was never a customer will struggle to rely on justification (truth) or honest opinion based on proper material, because there is no real experience behind the claims. The plaintiff must still prove serious harm in jurisdictions that have adopted the Stage 1 reforms, and most corporations cannot sue at all — see business defamation.

Injurious falsehood

Where a fake review makes false statements about a business's goods or services, rather than a person, the tort of injurious falsehood may be available to a company that cannot sue in defamation. It requires proof of falsity, malice and actual financial loss, which makes it demanding in practice.

Criminal law

Some fake-review conduct overlaps with criminal offences — for example, threatening to post damaging reviews unless paid, or using a carriage service to menace or harass. These are matters for police, not civil claims, and depend heavily on the facts. If you are being asked for money to stop reviews, keep everything and read the guide on Google review extortion.

Google’s policy: separate from the law

Google's Maps user-generated content policy says contributions should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business. Under its fake engagement rules it prohibits content not based on a real experience, paid or incentivised reviews, and posting on competitors' listings to undermine them. Under its rating manipulation and misrepresentation rules it removes content based on a conflict of interest, which it says may include current or former employment, a contractual relationship, industry competitors and family relationships. These rules apply regardless of whether any law is broken. A review can be lawful in Australia and still breach Google policy, and vice versa.

This distinction matters because Google's policy route usually turns on evidence that a review is not genuine, whereas a legal route turns on what the review says and whether a law is engaged. Choosing the wrong route is one of the common reasons complaints are rejected.

Who may be liable

The person who wrote it: potentially liable in defamation (as primary publisher), under the ACL if acting in trade or commerce, and possibly under criminal law.
The business that commissioned or benefited from it: potentially liable under the ACL, including as the party making the representation, and individuals "involved in" a contravention can also be penalised.
A supplier who sells fake reviews: may be liable as a party involved in a contravention, depending on the facts.
Google: in jurisdictions that adopted the Stage 2 defamation reforms in full, digital intermediaries have conditional exemptions and a complaints-based defence. Google's role is mainly as the party that decides whether content stays up.

What the law does not change

Suspecting a review is fake is not the same as proving it. An unfamiliar name or a short review is not evidence on its own, and plenty of genuine customers leave terse one-star reviews. The strongest cases combine several signals — no record of the customer, timing patterns, linked accounts, or content that refers to services you do not offer.

If you believe some of your reviews are not genuine, request a free assessment below. We will look at the evidence and tell you whether a complaint to Google is realistic.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is buying Google reviews illegal in Australia?

Buying reviews that present themselves as genuine customer experiences is very likely to be misleading conduct under the ACL, and it breaches Google’s fake engagement policy. The business that buys them, not just the seller, carries the legal risk.

Can I sue an anonymous account for fake reviews?

You first need to identify who is behind it. In some cases a court can order a platform to provide identifying information through preliminary discovery. This is costly and not always successful, because the account details held may not reveal a real identity.

Will reporting a review as fake get the reviewer in trouble?

A report to Google is a request for Google to apply its policy. It does not, by itself, involve the police or a regulator; the usual consequence of a successful report is simply that the review is removed.

Are reviews from friends and family fake?

If they describe a genuine experience as a customer, they may not be fake, but Google’s conflict-of-interest rules can still apply to reviews by people with a close relationship to the business. Asking family to boost a rating is risky under both Google policy and the ACL.

Is a fake positive review on a competitor’s profile a problem for me?

Only if you are connected to it. If a competitor is inflating its own ratings, you can report it to Google and, if the conduct is significant, consider a complaint to the ACCC or a state fair trading agency.