The Impact of Online Reviews on the Health Industry
Online reviews used to be one of the biggest trust signals in the health industry. It’s what customers look for first when comparing products and verifying legitimacy. And in most cases, reviews become better promotional assets than professionally made ads.
Unfortunately, many brands within the health industry abuse review platforms to game search engines and to trick consumers. With how accessible and good AI is, it’s easy to scale fake reviews that sound real.
Are Health Product Reviews Trustworthy: What Can You Trust?
The short answer is yes. But health product reviews must come from trustworthy, independent sources that conduct their own in-house lab tests. Reviews from a random Amazon user don’t carry as much weight.
Back in 2024, Amazon removed over 275 million fake reviews. Google is also implementing strict policies against fake reviews on its platforms. They’re also using AI tools, like Gemini, to flag AI patterns in reviews and remove them, causing a 600% review deletion rate in 2025.
But that’s where it stops. Google can’t control brand-owned websites. They can just upload fake reviews and testimonials to control their narrative. The same can be said for e-commerce platforms like eBay, Walmart, and iHerb.
How Reviews Created a Structural Shift in the Health Industry
Reviews are a trust signal to both consumers and search engines. But with how prevalent and easy they are to fake, reputable names in the healthcare industry use reviews to their advantage:
Transparency is a Competitive Advantage
The fastest-growing companies set themselves apart by rigorously testing for purity, potency, and safety, and then presenting certificates of analysis to consumers. If you have nothing to hide, you have everything to show.
Knowing where their ingredients are sourced, how the products are tested, and where they’re manufactured matters. Brands that clearly show their clinical data and third-party certifications enjoy both pricing power and consumer trust.
A New Wave of Transparency Technology
The online review problem is prevalent, but it has driven the development of new tech solutions. SuppCo launched the first app that gives consumers access to 195,000 supplements, indexed by their full ingredient lists, certifications, and quality standards.
It runs a TrustScore system that evaluates over 520 brands across 29 key attributes. That includes the first-ever warning about 900+ inactive ingredients in supplements.
Consumer Behavior Is Maturing
More and more consumers know that not every review can be trusted. But this skepticism is a good thing since it’s driven more people to their own research. Clean labels and transparency are becoming essential to earning consumer trust in the supplement category.
Social Commerce Is the New Wild West
On the flip side, reviews are also fueling a new channel that’s much harder to regulate. TikTok Shop and influencer marketing are driving rapid growth in social commerce for supplements.
It’s a space where “reviews” blur into paid promotions and where health claims can go viral before any regulatory body even notices. This is arguably the newest and least-policied for fake and misleading health product reviews.
What the Health Industry Is Doing to Fight Fake Online Reviews
It’s the wild west for brands selling health products outside platforms like Google or Amazon. The good news is that efforts are being made against those trying to manipulate or abuse online reviews:
Enforcement from the Government
Brands can sell supplements without the FDA’s or the FTC’s approval. Enforcement only kicks in after the product is already sitting in consumers’ hands. Once it does, regulators can:
- Build cases against brands for fake or AI-generated reviews and misleading prices.
- Fine for noncompliance: up to $51,744 per violation.
Third-Party Certification from Independent Testers
A handful of independent bodies do the real testing. The major ones are ConsumerLab, NSF International, and the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP). Each one tests finished dietary supplement products (pills, powders, liquids) and checks for things like:
- Ingredient quality
- Strength
- Purity
- Heavy metals
- Pesticides
- Microbes
Leading Brands Calling Out Bad Actors
Some reputable brands aren’t waiting around. They’re taking matters into their own hands and exposing competitors that make deceptive claims, which is a win for consumers.
Take NOW Foods. They ran 20+ rounds of market testing, buying up competitor supplements and testing them independently. In 2025, they tested 22 St. John’s Wort products from Amazon and found that several contained synthetic dyes to disguise low quality. NOW shares all of its results with both Amazon and the FDA.
Strict E-commerce Platform Requirements
Vetting the brands most likely to post fake reviews is one of the best ways to stop bad actors before their products ever reach shoppers. Amazon now requires third-party verification for dietary supplement products sold on its platform, handled through a Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC) organization.
On top of that, Amazon requires products to be manufactured in line with the FDA’s GMP standards, be free of contaminants, and be accurately labeled. Enforcement still isn’t perfect, though. It can be inconsistent, especially with third-party marketplace sellers.
This article was written for WHN by Ivana Babic, a content strategist and B2B SaaS copywriter at ProContentNS, specializing in creating compelling and conversion-driven content for businesses.
As with anything you read on the internet, this article should not be construed as medical advice; please talk to your doctor or primary care provider before changing your wellness routine. WHN neither agrees nor disagrees with any of the materials posted. This article is not intended to provide a medical diagnosis, recommendation, treatment, or endorsement.
Opinion Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of WHN. Any content provided by guest authors is of their own opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything else. The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these statements.
