Compliance
FTC compliant testimonial software
Since October 21, 2024, the FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) has banned fake testimonials, praise bought with sentiment-tied incentives, undisclosed insiders and review suppression, with civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. This page maps each requirement in the rule to what Get Reviews actually does, and says plainly where compliance is your job rather than the software’s.
Fake or false testimonials
Incentives tied to sentiment
Undisclosed insider testimonials
Review sites faking independence
Review suppression
Fake social media indicators
Penalties: up to $53,088 per violation
The rule in one frame. The requirement-by-requirement mapping is below.
The rule, briefly
If you are looking for FTC compliant testimonial software, the rule you are actually shopping against is one document: the FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, codified at 16 CFR Part 465. The FTC announced it in August 2024 and it took effect on October 21, 2024. It names six categories of banned conduct, at sections 465.2 through 465.8 (section 465.3 is reserved). Knowing violations can bring civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, and a violation is counted per testimonial, so one bad page can stack up quickly. The FTC has already sent warning letters to companies under the rule. Alongside it sit the FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), which set the disclosure duties for endorsements and material connections generally.
Whether a vendor calls its product testimonial software or FTC compliant review software, the obligations are the same, and most of them are about records: can you prove who said this, that they were a real customer, what they agreed to, and what happened to their words afterward? That proof layer is what Get Reviews is built around.
Requirement by requirement
Each row is one requirement from the rule, in plain English, next to the product behavior that supports it. Where the product does not solve a requirement, the row says so.
| Requirement | What the rule says | How Get Reviews supports it |
|---|---|---|
| Section 465.2 Fake or false testimonials |
Bans creating, buying, selling or spreading testimonials that misrepresent who the reviewer is or what they experienced, including AI-generated testimonials passed off as real customers. | Testimonials arrive through your collection link, from the person who wrote them. There is no AI testimonial generator and no marketplace of reviews. Every submission is stored with the submitter’s details, a timestamp and a signed release, and nothing publishes until you approve it in the moderation inbox. Testimonials you paste in by hand are flagged as manual imports with no submitter consent on file, so they can never quietly pose as collected proof. |
| Section 465.4 Incentives tied to sentiment |
Bans offering compensation or other incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative. Disclosing the incentive does not cure a sentiment condition. | Get Reviews has no rewards feature. Nothing in the product pays, discounts or otherwise rewards a customer for praise, and the built-in invites ask customers to share their experience without steering the answer. |
| Section 465.5 Undisclosed insiders |
Officers, managers, employees, agents and their relatives must clearly disclose their connection to the business when they endorse it. | The disclosure itself is your call; the product backs it with records. Every submission keeps who gave it and when, a human approval in the moderation inbox stands in front of publication, and each testimonial’s public verify page shows the submitter’s name and verification level, so you can spot an insider before anything runs and disclose the connection wherever you use their words. |
| Section 465.6 Review sites faking independence |
Bans presenting a website you control as an independent source of reviews for a category that includes your own products. | Get Reviews is not a review directory and runs no ratings site. Your wall and embeds live on your own website under your own brand, and every badge links to a verify page that shows the testimonial came through your collection process. Nothing is dressed up as independent third-party judgment. |
| Section 465.7 Review suppression |
Bans using threats, intimidation or false public claims to stop or remove negative reviews, and bans claiming a display shows all or most reviews while withholding low-rated ones. | Every submission, approved or not, stays in an append-only audit log recording submission, consent, edits and decisions, so your moderation history is inspectable instead of erased. Your wall shows the testimonials you approved, presented as your chosen proof. It never claims to be every review you have received. |
| Section 465.8 Fake social media indicators |
Bans buying or selling fake followers, views and other indicators of social media influence. | Not a testimonial tool problem, and not something this product touches. Get Reviews sells no followers, views or engagement of any kind. |
| 16 CFR Part 255 Endorsement Guides: consent and disclosure |
Endorsements must reflect the endorser’s honest experience, material connections must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, and the advertiser is responsible for what endorsers say and for keeping the records behind it. | At submission, every customer sees the full release text on the collection page and agrees to it as they submit. The app stores the release version, the exact text shown, and a SHA-256 fingerprint of that text with the testimonial, together with your business’s legal name and consent contact from your space settings. Consent is on file and provable, not assumed. |
The honest limits
- Software cannot make you compliant. It can capture consent, label verification honestly and keep records. What you ask for, what you publish and what you disclose remain your conduct, and no tool changes that.
- Verification levels say only what was checked. A testimonial is labeled unverified, email-verified, or purchase-verified (Pro, when it matches a real order) because a badge that claims more than was checked is itself misleading under the rule.
- Old testimonials are your audit to run. Praise collected before you had a consent process does not gain a paper trail retroactively. Our compliance checklist walks through what to retire or re-collect.
Questions searchers ask
What is 16 CFR Part 465?
16 CFR Part 465 is the Federal Trade Commission’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. Announced in August 2024 and in effect since October 21, 2024, it bans six practices: fake or false testimonials (including AI-generated ones), incentives conditioned on a review’s sentiment, undisclosed insider testimonials, company-controlled review sites presented as independent, review suppression, and buying or selling fake social media indicators.
What is the penalty for violating the FTC testimonial rule?
Civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. Per violation means per testimonial: a page carrying ten fake or undisclosed testimonials is ten violations, not one. The FTC has already sent warning letters to companies under the rule.
Do I need written consent to publish a customer testimonial?
The rule bans testimonials that misrepresent a real customer’s experience, and the FTC’s Endorsement Guides plus state publicity laws make permission the practical requirement for using someone’s words, photo or video in your marketing. The defensible standard is a signed release captured when the testimonial is submitted, stored with the exact text the customer agreed to. That is what Get Reviews records on every submission.
Are video testimonials covered by the rule?
Yes. The rule covers testimonials in any format, and video adds a likeness and voice release on top of the words. Get Reviews captures a consent and video release at submission for text, photo and video alike, and stores it with the testimonial’s audit record.
What records should I keep for my testimonials?
Keep the original submission, who sent it and when, the consent or release they agreed to (including the exact text and its version), and a history of edits and approvals. If a testimonial is ever challenged, those records are your defense. Get Reviews keeps all of them in an append-only audit log, and every approved testimonial links to a public verify page showing the key facts.
Can software make my business FTC compliant?
No. Software can capture consent, label verification honestly, and keep records, but compliance is conduct: what you ask for, what you publish, and what you disclose. Get Reviews is built to support a compliant process. It is not legal advice, and a lawyer should review your release templates and your specific situation.
Keep reading
Prefer the step-by-step version?
The FTC testimonial compliance checklist turns the same rule into working habits: what to collect, what to label, what to retire.
See how tools compare
Prices, free plans and proof features across 11 testimonial tools, including the consent and verification features nobody else has.
Browse the features
Collection links, browser video recording, moderation inbox, Wall of Love, embeds and the API, with the proof layer explained.
This page explains how Get Reviews supports a compliant testimonial process under US federal rules. It is general information, not legal advice, and using the software does not by itself make any business compliant. Rules differ by state, country and industry, and regulated sectors such as health and finance carry extra requirements.
Collect testimonials with the records to defend them
Signed consent, honest verification labels, a public verify page and an audit log, on every plan, including Free.