This includes deactivating the ability to add new reviews for businesses found to be using fake reviews, and deleting all existing reviews for at least six months if they repeated

Google will do more to tackle fake reviews, including sanctioning UK businesses and people involved in manipulating star ratings, Britain's competition regulator said on Friday following a lengthy investigation.

Google is pledging to crack down on fake online reviews with tougher punishments for rogue reviewers and businesses after an investigation by regulators in Britain.

The UK has reached an agreement with Google to counter fake reviews, with the internet giant committing to several remedies.

Britain's competition regulator said on Friday it had secured important changes from Google to tackle fake reviews, including to sanction UK businesses that have boosted their star ratings with fake or misleading reviews.

Google has pledged to do more to combat fake reviews of UK businesses, with significant changes to follow. The update was announced by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), the United Kingdom’s competition watchdog. Google is said to represent around 90% of online search in the UK, highlighting the importance of veracity and legitimacy.

Google has committed to cracking down on fake reviews by improving fraud detection and punishing offenders. Businesses using shady tactics will lose the ability to submit reviews or have existing ones wiped for at least six months.

Britain will use new regulatory powers to investigate Google's search services to see how they impact consumers and businesses, including advertisers and rivals, following U.S. calls to break up the tech giant.