Amazon and Google face probe into fake product reviews

UK regulator to decide if the firms broke consumer law by taking insufficient action to protect shoppers

'Our worry is that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations.'

Britain's competition regulator started a formal investigation on Friday into whether Amazon and Google may not have done enough to prevent or remove fake reviews.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it will gather more information to decide if the firms may have broken consumer law by taking insufficient action to protect shoppers.