• President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, has initiated proceedings towards OLX Group.
• The charges concern the non-transparent and misleading terms adopted in the opinion posting system.
• There are also doubts about the algorithm that inflates ratings which modifies their original nature.

Olx.pl is one of the most popular local classifieds platforms in Poland, visited by several million users a month. The items traded are used ones, brand new ones and even services. The entrepreneur provides a platform for such purchases to individual and business users earning money from transaction fees or listing fees. In such a business model, consumer trust in the platform operator, guaranteeing the fairness of the transaction, as well as the system of rating by buyers, is crucial. A survey commissioned by UOKIK shows that for 86 percent of online shoppers opinions about a seller are important before making a purchase decision.

- The dynamics of technological development encourage the evolution of services and the creation of new formats, not always optimal for the consumer. Online platforms must not forget the fundamentals of customer relations such as honest and transparent communication. And there is no such thing when the consumer is misled about the basic categories or terms used by the entrepreneur. It shouldn't be the case that the rating description mentions "buyers" while in fact none of the reviews given to the seller necessarily come from the person making the purchase - says President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

Buyer meaning who?

Consumers have reported signals of irregularities in the rating system. President of UOKiK, having analysed the case, has initiated proceedings towards OLX Group and has pressed charges against it. Firstly, doubts are raised about the group of people authorised to post reviews on olx.pl, referred to as "buyers”. It turns out that, contrary to the common meaning of the aforementioned phrase, these are not just buyers, but also people who merely contacted the seller. Thus, the purchase of a product on the website does not condition the ability to post an opinion, which is later presented, however, as a "buyer's" assessment. Suggesting that an opinion comes from a person who has purchased and verified the product may be misleading.

Positive counts...more?

The second important area is the issue of the rating scale used. The algorithm used by olx.pl assigns higher weight to positive reviews than to negative ones and additionally qualifies as positive reviews those that fall below half on the rating scale. The ratings that a user has to choose from ("Bad," "Good," “Excellent") when evaluating the "transaction experience" are not the same as the rating categories presented later on the site ("Not recommended," "Not bad," "Good," “Excellent"). To assign the ratings received by a seller to a particular category, olx.pl makes a series of calculations that are not communicated to users. As a result, the ratings displayed under sellers' ads may suggest a higher value than actually given by "buyers" in their reviews.

In addition, the consumer has no insight into what sub-ratings make up the advertiser's overall rating. They cannot see any written comments added during the sub-ratings (comments are mandatory when selecting the "bad" rating, with other ratings they are voluntary), they are only visible to the "seller". Such a state of affairs makes it difficult for the consumer to easily realize that the stated ratings may be higher than in reality.

In the opinion of President of UOKIK, the described practices may have misled consumers and distorted the transparency of the purchasing process. If these charges are substantiated, OLX Group may be fined up to 10% of its turnover.

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