● Technical
Omnibus Directive (EU 2019/2161)
EU regulation requiring merchants to publish only verified reviews from real buyers, without filtering. In force since May 2022 across the European Union.
Full definition
The Omnibus Directive (EU 2019/2161), transposed into French law in May 2022, strengthens consumer protection online on multiple fronts. Regarding customer reviews, it imposes a transparency obligation on merchants publishing reviews on their sites: they must clearly indicate whether reviews have been verified, specify the verification procedures used, and state whether negative reviews have been removed.
The absolute red line of the Omnibus Directive is this: it is forbidden to publish reviews after having pre-filtered negative ones. A merchant who only publishes 4 and 5-star reviews while deleting 1 and 2-star reviews is in violation. Penalties can reach 4% of annual worldwide turnover or 2 million euros, whichever is higher.
The directive also covers fake reviews (purchased, incentivized without transparency) and manipulated ratings. It applies to any site selling to European consumers, regardless of its geographical location. This therefore concerns the vast majority of e-commerce merchants operating on the French or European market.
Concrete example
A merchant who previously collected 500 reviews per month but only published 350 (by filtering ratings below 3 stars) is now in violation. Since May 2022, they must publish all reviews or clearly state the moderation criteria used, which cannot be based on the rating.
Another merchant using a verified review service must be able to demonstrate, on request, that each published review comes from an authenticated buyer. A review left without proof of purchase cannot be presented as a "verified review". Proof of transaction is mandatory.
With Review Collect
Review Collect is designed with native compliance with the Omnibus Directive: only verified buyers (who have actually completed an order) can submit a review. Proof of purchase is systematically retained. No negative review is ever filtered: all collected reviews are published, regardless of their rating.
This compliance is not a constraint: it is a competitive advantage. Negative reviews handled with an AI response in under 60 seconds become proof of seriousness and transparency. Consumers trust a brand showing a 4.3/5 rating with 800 reviews far more than a 5/5 rating with 12 reviews.
