Last updated: 23 October 2026 · By Maurice, freeehouse team · About 3 minutes to read
What does § 5b para. 3 UWG require?
Since May 2022: if a business makes consumer reviews accessible, it must say whether and how it ensures that the reviews come from consumers who actually used or purchased the goods or services. Without this information, it can count as misleading by omission.
The obligation does not require you to verify every review. But you must be open about whether you check, and how.
What does a good notice look like?
Short, honest, right next to the reviews, for example:
The reviews come from our Google Business Profile, where they are publicly readable. We show a selection, word for word. We do not separately check whether every author was a customer; Google checks reviews under its own rules.
What is forbidden?
- Inventing reviews or writing them yourself.
- Buying reviews or having agencies write them.
- Reviews given in return for something, without disclosing it.
- Selecting or shortening reviews so that a false impression arises, for example showing only good ones and claiming they are all of them.
- Displaying an overall rating that is not correct.
May I show only the good reviews?
Showing a selection is common. But you must not give the impression that it is all of them, or distort the overall rating. The cleanest way: link the source, state the overall rating as given by the source with the date, and say openly that it is a selection.
May I shorten reviews?
Only if the meaning doesn't change and the shortening is recognisable, for example with three dots. The full wording is safer. Reviews that name people should be checked first, because their rights count too.
What about star ratings in Google search?
Google does not show stars in search results for reviews that a business marks up about itself on its own website. Google calls these self-serving reviews. Such markup therefore achieves nothing and can violate the guidelines.
And if the reviews come from another company?
For example from the parent company or a former name of the business: then that has to be stated clearly. On freeehouse.de we show reviews of our parent agency Smith & Victory and say so next to every voice.
This article is for orientation only and is not legal advice.
At freeehouse we build reviews in so that source, date and selection are openly visible, with the notice under § 5b para. 3 UWG. We don't charge for building the website. How freeehouse works
How do we show reviews on freeehouse.de?
As an example: freeehouse is new and does not have its own review profile yet. So we show reviews of our parent agency Smith & Victory and say so next to every voice. We state the overall rating with date and source, and the notice under § 5b para. 3 UWG sits below it. Which reviews we leave out and why is explained on freeehouse-erfahrungen.de.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to say where my reviews come from?
Yes. Under § 5b para. 3 UWG you must state whether and how you ensure that reviews come from real customers.
May I show Google reviews on my website?
Yes, with the source and the notice about verification. Show them unchanged and link the profile.
Does review markup bring stars on Google?
For reviews about your own business on your own site, Google does not show stars.
What happens with fake reviews?
Warning letters under the UWG and measures by the platforms, up to blocking of profiles.
Sources
- UWG § 5b Irreführung durch Unterlassen, accessed 23 October 2026
- UWG Anhang zu § 3 Abs. 3, accessed 23 October 2026
- Google Search Central: Rezensions-Snippets, accessed 23 October 2026
Providers' prices and terms change often. What counts is what's in your customer account and your contract. Not legal advice.
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