evaluate his or her own experience and the need to avoid market distortions from fake reviews. The literature on this topic is vast, particularly from an economic perspective. Some scholars emphasize that, given their reach and influence, fake online reviews have significant potential to misinform users, harm both consumers and professionals, and distort market competition6. Fake reviews are likely to be detrimental to consumers because they subtly influence purchasing decisions. They can also harm professionals: positive fake reviews give certain products an unfair competitive advantage, while negative fake reviews spread false or misleading claims about competitors’ goods or services7. Moreover, such reviews can mislead professionals themselves, who may make strategic decisions based on fraudulent feedback without realizing it has been manipulated by competitors or fictitious customers8. The list of examples is long. In short, fake reviews can damage market efficiency, leading to a vicious cycle of consumer dissatisfaction and defamatory practices among competitors9. Various stakeholders - such as website operators, industry associations, public authorities, and consumer organizations - have taken steps to address the issue of misleading or fake reviews. However, this paper does not aim to explore those efforts, as they fall outside its scope. Instead, we focus on the legal perspective. Several areas of inquiry arise due to the multiple interests and parties involved: professionals, platforms, and consumers. Therefore, it is essential to clearly define the scope of analysis. The most pressing issues raised by online reviews likely fall within the domain of private law. Among them, two aspects seem particularly relevant and deserving of close attention. A first area of concern relates to the legal instruments available to protect economic operators and professionals. Online reviews can significantly influence a business’s success or failure. This is hardly surprising, considering the high level of trust users place in the opinions and personal experiences shared by other consumers. Given the direct impact of digital reputation on sales, fake 6 Articulately highlights the problem, among others, J. M. Martínez Otero, Fake reviews on online platforms: perspectives from the US, UK and EU legislations, in (2021) SN Social Science 1, 181, p. 3. 7 E.F. Cardoso et al., Towards automatic filtering of fake reviews, (2018) Neurocomputing 309, p. 106 ff.; and also V. Franceschelli, Fake news e social networks: riflessi sul diritto d’autore e concorrenza, in Diritto industriale, 2019, p. 141 8 D. Martens, W. Maalej, Toward understanding and detecting fake reviews in app stores, (2019) Empirical Software Engineering 24(1), p. 3313 ff. 9 M. Barish, Reaching for the Stars: A Proposal to the FTC to Help Deter Astroturfing and Fake Reviews, in (2018) Cardozo Arts & Ent. Law Journal 36, p. 833. 557 FAKE AND PAID-FOR ONLINE REVIEWS AND PROTECTION
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