They present their reviews of businesses as impartial, regulator says
The Commerce Commission has highlighted its pursuit of litigation before the Auckland High Court against Top Reviews and Auckland Magazine, websites that allegedly approached businesses in the country for favourable online rankings while representing their reviews as independent and impartial.
In a news release, the commission noted that it previously made efforts to take down the websites and/or remove their allegedly misleading content. Back in December, the commission sent a “Stop Now” letter to the two websites.
Through a statement of claim filed with the High Court of New Zealand, the commission seeks to:
“Being based offshore doesn’t put a website beyond our attention when its conduct targets New Zealand consumers and businesses,” said Anne Callinan, the commission’s deputy chair, in the news release.
The commission explained that both websites post reviews of New Zealand businesses or include them in online rankings for certain categories.
Following an investigation, the commission said the websites gave the impression that:
According to the commission, some supposed staff writers were real individuals who were unaware that the websites were utilising their identities.
On the commission’s behalf, Callinan expressed concerns regarding the effects of the websites’ alleged conduct on small and medium-sized businesses and consumers.
“If a website says its rankings are independent, businesses and consumers should be able to take that at face value,” she said in the commission’s news release. “Payment shouldn’t be influencing who ranks highly without that being made clear.”
According to Callinan, businesses might:
“Some local businesses have told us they weren’t aware they were featured on these websites, and some of the information about them was inaccurate,” she said.
Callinan added that consumers might rely on online rankings when considering how to spend their money.
“Consumers need to know whether a ranking is genuinely independent or commercially influenced,” she said.
Here are some other recent news stories involving the commission.
Under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Act 2026, which received royal assent on 4 June 2026, the Financial Markets Authority, rather than the Commerce Commission, became responsible for consumer credit regulation as of 1 July 2026.
In early June, the Commerce Commission announced its intent to bring charges under the Fair Trading Act before the Auckland District Court against BP Oil New Zealand Ltd, which allegedly failed to offer discounts to which customers were entitled.
Enjoy this story? Read the latest corporate and M&A law news on the main page!
