Customer review rules for e-commerce in Turkey (2026)
Article 28/B of the Ministry of Trade's Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices came into force in its current form on 1 August 2026. We summarise in plain words the rules brands publishing customer reviews must follow, together with the details in the Turkish Advertising Board's Guideline.
- Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices, Art. 28/B (Official Gazette 1/7/2026, no. 33297)
- Turkish Advertising Board, Guideline on Consumer Reviews (12.09.2023)
Who does it concern?
Sellers and intermediary service providers that publish customer reviews about a product or a purchase on their own site or app. Collecting reviews with your own software or through a review service does not change the responsibility.
The rules and a checklist
The gist of each rule and the point to check on your site.
- 28/B-1 · Guideline 8/4
Only buyers can review
Only a person who bought the product can review it; reviews from channels where the purchase cannot be verified cannot be published. People who did not buy the product cannot be steered into reviewing it.
Check: Is your review form open to everyone, or only to customers whose order is verified? Do you show reviews imported from other sites? If so, does the source site verify the purchase, and are the reviews shown with their source?
- 28/B-2 · Guideline 6/3
Publishing rules are visible and cannot limit the topic
How reviews are published is explained where the reviews are, or through a link: the verification process, whether all reviews are published, how the average is calculated and how reviews are sorted. These rules cannot prevent reviews about delivery, packaging, the seller, returns or the price.
Check: Is there a page or link in your review section that explains your publishing rules? Do you reject reviews about topics other than the product?
- 28/B-3
All reviews in one place
Reviews under different headings are published in the same area, distinguishable and easy to reach.
Check: Are negative reviews, or reviews on certain topics, kept on a separate tab or somewhere hard to find?
- 28/B-4 · Guideline 7/3
No split between positive and negative, objective sorting
Reviews are published without distinguishing between positive and negative, without steering and according to objective criteria such as date or rating. Positive and negative reviews go through the same checks and the same time frames.
Check: Do low-rated reviews wait longer, or get rejected more often? Is your default sort based on an objective criterion?
- 28/B-4 · Guideline 6/5, 6/6
The reason for a rejected review is sent at once
The reason a review is not published is told to the consumer without delay, and a consumer whose review is rejected gets the chance to correct and resubmit it.
Check: Does the author of a rejected review receive the reason, and how quickly? Can they correct the review and send it again?
- 28/B-5
No unlawful health claims
Reviews containing health claims that breach the legislation cannot be published.
Check: In categories such as cosmetics or food supplements, are reviews with health claims checked before they go live?
- 28/B-6
Used elsewhere only as a fair reflection
Reviews may be used in other channels, such as advertising or social media, only in a way that reflects their overall character.
Check: Do your ads pick only the most positive reviews in a way that distorts the overall picture?
- 28/B-7
A resolution is shown in the same place
If it is reported that the consumer's grievance has been resolved, this is published without delay in the same place as the original review.
Check: For resolved complaints, is the resolution shown next to the review?
- 28/B-8 · Guideline 8/5
Reviews cannot be bought or incentivised
No agreement can be made, and no service bought, to have untrue reviews written. Manipulative practices are forbidden, such as publishing only positive reviews, contacting customers to have a negative review withdrawn or offering incentives only for positive reviews.
Check: Do your review invitations include a coupon, discount or points in return for a review? Are customers who write negative reviews contacted to withdraw them?
- Guideline 5/4
Cancellations and returns count too
When an order is cancelled, a contract is terminated or the right of withdrawal is used, reviews of the experience up to that stage of the purchase are also covered by the purchase.
Check: Can a customer who cancelled or returned review their experience up to that point?
- Guideline 7/2 · 8/6
Reasonable checks against fake reviews
Reasonable and proportionate checks are applied against fake reviews (email verification, automatic fake detection, a way to report suspicious reviews); a review found to be misleading is removed at once.
Check: Do you have a check that catches suspicious cases such as the same text sent again or many reviews in a short time, and a way for visitors to report a review?
In the European Union
In the EU, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) requires disclosure rather than verification: it must be stated whether and how reviews come from consumers who actually used or bought the product. Claiming that reviews come from real buyers without taking reasonable steps to check it is unfair in all circumstances.
How does Sayproof apply these rules?
In Sayproof most of these rules are not a setting you switch on or off but an option that is never offered: the form does not open without a verified order, rejection reasons are a fixed list, the publishing method cannot depend on the rating and invitations have no incentive block. The article-by-article mapping is on the Compliance page.
Go to the Compliance pageThis page gives general information and is not legal advice. Consult your legal team about your own situation.
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