BGH: Company can advertise with average star rating on the internet
A business advertising its customer ratings as an average on the Internet does not need to disclose the number of reviews and the time period they were given individually - that is, reveal how many customers gave a specific number of stars and how many gave another number. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled on Thursday and dismissed a revision by the Central Office for the Fight against Unfair Competition. (Case I ZR 143/23)
The total number of given reviews and the timeframe in which they were written must, however, be disclosed. The Central Office for the Fight against Unfair Competition had sued a company that offered brokerage services for real estate buyers. It advertised on its website with average star ratings but did not disclose the total number or the timeframe.
The Central Office considered this deceptive and went to court. The Hamburg Regional Court ruled in September 2022 that the total number and timeframe must be disclosed, but not the breakdown by star ratings. The Central Office appealed and later went into revision, but had no further success: The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg and now also the BGH confirmed the assessment of the Regional Court.
From the consumers' perspective, this is a useful but not essential piece of information required for a business decision, said Presiding Judge Thomas Koch during the judgment reading. Consumers would know that average star ratings usually base on varying good and bad reviews, he added. They could assess the credibility of the advertising based on the total number of reviews and the timeframe.
The company's appeal against the Hamburg Regional Court's ruling, regarding the disclosure of the total number of reviews and their timeframe, was dismissed by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). Decoding the exact breakdown of star ratings by individual customers is not required by law for businesses advertising their customer ratings on the Internet. Star ratings, though, can still influence consumers' decisions, making the disclosure of the total number of reviews and the timeframe they were given important for assessing the credibility of the advertising.
