SignalRouteWe don't gate reviews.
Every customer can post a public review on any platform the business has configured — regardless of star rating. Built from day one to comply with the FTC's 2024 Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule and Google's user-generated content policy.
Last reviewed against the live regulatory text · May 2026
The trick most tools quietly use.
Review gating is the practice of asking a customer how they feel before deciding whether to invite them to leave a public review. Happy customers get sent to Google. Unhappy customers get redirected to a private form, where their feedback never becomes public.
The result looks great on Google — a wall of five-star reviews — but it's produced by hiding the rest. The Federal Trade Commission calls this a deceptive practice. Google calls it a policy violation. Both have authority to act on it.
In August 2024, the FTC finalized 16 CFR Part 465, which makes review suppression and selective solicitation federally illegal under a rule with civil penalties up to $51,744 per violation. Google's 2025 Trust & Safety Report says it removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews that year. Listings caught gating can be suspended outright.
SignalRoute is built so this trick isn't available — even if an owner wanted it.
How our flow works
Two paths. Both reach Google.
The customer always starts at the same screen. The only difference is the addition of a service-recovery channel for low ratings — never a substitute for the public option.
Positive rating
- → Public review platforms (Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.)
- Customer chooses where to post.
Low rating
- → Private feedback to the business owner service recovery
- + Same public review platforms shown alongside always available
- Customer can use either, both, or neither.
The legal distinction
The FTC and Google do not prohibit private feedback channels. They prohibit substitutinga private channel for the public one based on predicted sentiment. SignalRoute's low-rating screen adds the private option; it never replaces the public one. The customer always has the same set of public review platforms available, on every path.
Rule by rule, how we comply
The Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials took effect October 21, 2024. We've walked each substantive section against SignalRoute's actual product behavior.
16 CFR § 465.2 · 01
Fake or false reviews
What the rule prohibits
Bans reviews by people who don't exist (including AI-generated), people who didn't actually use the product, or that misrepresent the experience.
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute never writes, generates, or purchases reviews. Every review submitted through our flow comes from the customer who received the QR code, link, or NFC tap from the business — and goes directly to the platform of their choice. We add nothing.
16 CFR § 465.3 · 02
Bought reviews & conditional incentives
What the rule prohibits
Bans compensating or incentivizing a reviewer to express a particular sentiment — positive or negative.
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute does not offer or facilitate any incentive (cash, discounts, freebies, points, sweepstakes entries) tied to leaving a review. The product has no field for it. Owners who attempt to bolt on incentives outside the product are violating their own platform terms — that's on them, not us.
16 CFR § 465.4 · 03
Insider testimonials without disclosure
What the rule prohibits
Officers, managers, employees, and agents posting reviews must clearly disclose their material connection.
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute is software, not a review writer. We don't post on anyone's behalf. If a business owner asks staff to leave reviews, that's a separate compliance question between them and the FTC — and we'd advise against it.
16 CFR § 465.6 · 04
Company-controlled review sites
What the rule prohibits
Bans presenting a company-controlled site as if it were independent.
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute is not a review platform. We do not host, display, rank, or aggregate consumer reviews. We are a routing layer — we send the customer to Google, Yelp, Facebook, Trustpilot, BBB, or whichever third-party platform the business has configured. Those platforms own and display the reviews.
16 CFR § 465.7 · 05
Review suppression
What the rule prohibits
Bans suppressing negative reviews, threatening reviewers, or selectively soliciting only customers expected to leave positive feedback (review gating).
How SignalRoute complies
This is the rule that kills most reputation-management tools. Our flow is designed so that every customer — regardless of how they rated the experience — can reach every public review platform the business has configured. Low-rated customers also see a private feedback option to the business owner, but it is offered alongside the public platforms, never as a substitute for them. We do not edit, hold, or filter reviews destined for Google or any other public platform.
16 CFR § 465.8 · 06
Fake indicators of social influence
What the rule prohibits
Bans buying or using fake followers, likes, or other indicators of social influence.
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute does not generate, purchase, or facilitate any social-media engagement metric. We surface real review counts and ratings as reported by the underlying platforms.
And the same for Google's policy
Google's Maps user-generated content policy enumerates the same banned practices, plus a few specific to merchants. Removal, ranking penalties, or full listing suspension are the consequences.
No selective solicitation
“Merchants may not selectively solicit positive reviews from customers, or discourage or prohibit negative reviews.”
How SignalRoute complies
Every customer using a SignalRoute link sees the same public review platforms — same Google, same Yelp, same Facebook — regardless of whether they tapped one star or five. The flow does not branch the public-platform list based on sentiment.
No incentives
“Merchants may not offer payment, discounts, free goods, or services in exchange for any review.”
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute has no incentive mechanic. There is no field, setting, or template that offers anything in exchange for a review.
No premises pressure
“Merchants may not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises.”
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute provides links, QR codes, and NFC taps the customer chooses to use — typically after the visit, on their own device, on their own time. We don't run kiosks, we don't lock screens, we don't gate the customer's exit.
Genuine experience only
“Merchants may solicit content that represents a genuine experience, without offering incentives or attempting to influence the rating or contents of the review.”
How SignalRoute complies
SignalRoute messaging templates ask for honest feedback. We do not script, prefill, or auto-suggest review content. The customer writes their own review on the platform of their choice.
At a glance
What SignalRoute will and won't do
What we do
- Show the same public platforms to every customer, regardless of star rating
- Send happy customers to Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc. with one tap
- Offer unhappy customers a private feedback channel in addition to public platforms
- Track which platform each customer chose, for the owner's analytics only
- Operate as a routing layer — no review hosting, ranking, or aggregation
What we don't do
- Hide public review options from customers based on predicted sentiment
- Suppress, edit, or delay any review the customer writes on a third-party platform
- Generate, write, or sell reviews — including AI-generated content
- Offer or facilitate any incentive in exchange for a review
- Threaten, intimidate, or strong-arm reviewers
- Sell follower counts, fake engagement, or social-influence metrics
For the business owner
What this means for you
You can hand a SignalRoute QR code to every customer who walks through your door — the one who tipped 30%, and the one who left the door slamming. The flow handles both correctly.
The happy customer gets the path of least resistance to Google. The unhappy customer gets to vent privately to you first — which is often the difference between a phone call you can fix and a public one-star you can't. And critically, the unhappy customer's public review options are still right there on the screen. They choose.
That last detail is what keeps your Google listing safe and your business out of the FTC's warning-letter pile. It's also why we won't take it out, no matter how often someone asks.
Primary sources
Read it yourself
We won't ask you to take our word for it. Every claim on this page maps to a public regulatory document.
16 CFR Part 465 — Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current version
FTC Final Rule announcement (August 14, 2024)
Effective October 21, 2024
FTC Business Guidance: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule Q&A
The agency's plain-English explainer
FTC v. Fashion Nova — $4.2M settlement for review suppression
The leading enforcement precedent
Google Maps user-generated content policy — Prohibited & restricted content
Includes the explicit ban on selective solicitation and incentives
This page is informational, not legal advice. If you're uncertain how the rule applies to a specific use of SignalRoute, consult counsel.
Questions
Still uncertain? Ask a real person.
Email goes to the founder. If you're a regulator, journalist, or counsel with a specific question about the mechanic, we'll respond on the record.
Compliance built in · Not bolted on