Reviews.io markets itself as “the source of genuine reviews you can trust” and claims “transparency, trust and honesty” as its foundation. The Leicester-based platform, founded by Callum McKeefery and his wife Nikki Albano from their kitchen table in 2010, operates as a Google Licensed Review Partner serving e-commerce businesses with 51-200 employees across three continents. The company was acquired by Clearer.io/AppHub in September 2022, expanding its reach while maintaining headquarters at 29 St Nicholas Place in Leicester, England.
Yet beneath this professional positioning lies a platform facing persistent consumer complaints about selective review suppression, fake review tolerance, and a removal policy approaching absolute refusal. The FTC’s 2024 fake review regulations created new liability for platforms enabling review manipulation, while the Fashion Nova settlement established precedent for platforms suppressing negative feedback. Reviews.io’s business model—charging businesses monthly fees while giving them control over review invitations—creates structural incentives for gaming the system.
The FTC’s 2024 Fake Review Rule and Fashion Nova Precedent
In August 2024, the FTC issued its final Trade Regulation Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, prohibiting businesses from creating, purchasing, or disseminating fake reviews. The rule went into effect October 21, 2024, with penalties reaching $51,744 per violation plus potential consumer redress. Critically, the rule bans offering compensation to customers for removing negative reviews, selectively soliciting reviews from satisfied customers only, and suppressing negative reviews while displaying positive ones.
The Fashion Nova case established enforcement precedent. In January 2022, the FTC charged fast-fashion retailer Fashion Nova with suppressing negative reviews by automatically posting four and five-star reviews while withholding hundreds of reviews with less than four stars for manual approval. The company paid $4.2 million to settle claims it deceived consumers by misrepresenting that reviews on its website reflected all customer opinions. The FTC’s complaint alleged Fashion Nova violated Section 5 of the FTC Act through deceptive practices in review presentation.
Reviews.io operates identically: businesses pay monthly subscription fees, send review invitations to customers they select, and can influence which customers receive invitations based on likelihood of positive feedback. The platform’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit “selectively suppressing invites or feedback to manipulate ratings,” yet businesses control the invitation process entirely. When combined with Reviews.io’s refusal to remove verified reviews regardless of legitimacy, the system creates permanent records of potentially manipulated feedback.
Reviews.io’s “Never Remove” Policy
Reviews.io states unequivocally that “no genuine, verified and factually-correct review will ever be deleted from a company page, regardless of its star rating.” The platform permits removal only for profanity, defamatory content, or reviews identifying individual employees by name. Verified reviews written through email invitations face higher protection than unverified reviews, creating permanent records businesses cannot challenge.
The removal process requires contacting support via live chat at support@reviews.io with documented evidence of policy violations. Reviews.io investigates complaints but defaults to assuming reviews are legitimate unless businesses provide proof reviewers never purchased, documentation of competitor manipulation, or clear evidence of policy violations. The platform explicitly states “unfairness is subjective” and refuses moderation based on disputed accuracy unless reviews contain demonstrably false factual statements with documentation proving falsity.
This standard proves impossible for most businesses: demonstrating a reviewer never purchased requires accessing customer records that privacy laws often prohibit sharing. Reviews.io demands businesses prove negatives while simultaneously denying them investigative tools to gather evidence. The platform’s Managing Negative Reviews guide explicitly discourages removal requests, stating “negative reviews can be frustrating but the truth is it’s a part of doing business” and emphasizing that removing reviews “can damage your relationship with that customer and you risk them posting your reaction on social media.”
Consumer Complaints About Selective Review Publishing
Trustpilot hosts 364 reviews of Reviews.io itself, with consumers reporting systematic complaints about fake review tolerance and selective suppression. One business owner wrote: “Their business model seems to operate around flooding your brand with fake/spam reviews, thus forcing you to sign up to manage them. The support staff don’t engage and they show no interest in combating the problem.” Multiple reviewers describe scenarios where Reviews.io publishes obvious fake negative reviews while refusing to allow businesses to respond without paying subscription fees.
A consumer attempting to review BargainMax reported: “Despite providing clear proof of purchase, my review was not allowed to be posted. It seems like Review.io is more interested in protecting companies rather than allowing customers to share their genuine experiences.” Another reviewer stated: “I had a very bad experience with a company, and on Trustpilot they are rated 1.9, here 4.7, what is this? If you look at the site companies can subscribe and delete bad comment.”
The rating discrepancies prove systematic. Multiple reviewers document companies with 1-2 star Trustpilot ratings displaying 4-5 star Reviews.io ratings, suggesting selective filtering. One reviewer wrote: “Reviews on this site cannot be trusted, the companies that are being reviewed on this site are the ones in control. Companies with extremely bad reputations on Trustpilot for example are getting amazing reviews on here.” Another stated: “The company can delete bad reviews!! Total fake, follow Trustpilot or Google.”
What Actually Works for Removal
Direct removal from Reviews.io succeeds only when reviews violate explicit content policies. Contact support@reviews.io or use the live chat with documented evidence showing profanity, defamatory statements naming specific employees, or clear policy violations. For unverified reviews flagged incorrectly, provide proof of purchase demonstrating legitimate customer status. Reviews.io’s verification FAQ states: “If your review has been moderated and you have followed our review policy, contact the live chat with details of your transaction.”
Public responses become critical when removal fails. Reviews.io permits businesses to post both public responses visible to all visitors and private responses visible only to reviewers. Response quality matters more than review existence for consumer decision-making. Craft professional, fact-based responses demonstrating customer service commitment without attacking reviewers directly.
Encourage verified positive reviews from actual customers to dilute negative content, though Reviews.io explicitly prohibits incentivizing reviews. The platform’s Fake Review Policy, updated to comply with UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and FTC regulations, bans “money, gifts, discounts, or other inducements in exchange for reviews that are not representative of the reviewer’s actual experience.” Neutral review requests to past customers remain permissible.
Google de-indexing through legal channels can remove Reviews.io pages from search results even when the platform refuses deletion. File DMCA takedown requests with Google for content violating legal rights, though success rates remain low without documented defamation, privacy violations, or false statements supported by evidence.
The Respect Network Solution
When Reviews.io refuses removal and standard strategies fail, professional reputation management becomes necessary. Respect Network specializes in removing harmful content from review platforms through strategic legal channels, negotiated takedowns, and comprehensive suppression campaigns pushing problematic Reviews.io pages beyond the first three search result pages where 95% of searchers never look.
Reviews.io’s “never remove” policy protects the platform more than consumers, creating structural incentives for businesses to manipulate invitation processes while legitimate companies suffer from unremovable potentially false claims. Professional reputation management addresses these imbalances by leveraging legal frameworks and technical strategies individual businesses cannot access alone.
Contact Respect Network for a confidential consultation on Reviews.io removal strategies tailored to your specific situation.
