Italian hospitality associations urge Antitrust to curb fake online reviews

The Federation of Italian Public Establishments (Fipe), represented by president Lino Enrico Stoppani, says false online reviews are damaging consumers and hospitality businesses, with impacts of up to 30% of firms' turnover. The association, together with Federalberghi, Fiavet, Fto and other Confcommercio‑linked groups, has submitted observations to the Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) during a public consultation, requesting stricter guidelines.

Fipe argues that the current AGCM framework only imposes modest transparency obligations on “incentivised” reviews and does not declare such practices illegal as required by article 19 of the SME law. The groups demand uniform, no‑gap rules, public disclosure of algorithm criteria and weighting, and stronger measures to prevent biased or fabricated ratings that affect business visibility and consumer choice.

Stoppani emphasized that “enterprises and consumers are natural allies in this battle” and called on the regulator to build rules that protect a transparent and truthful digital marketplace for tourism and restaurant services.