The Ministry of SMEs and Startups gathered complaints from small business owners about star ratings and review systems on online platforms.
The ministry said it held a roundtable on online platform star-rating systems on the 11th at the Korea Foundation for Cooperation of Large & Small Business, Rural Affairs in Jung-gu, central Seoul. Six online platform operators attended, including NAVER, Kakao, Baedal Minjok, Coupang, Goodchoice and Nol Universe, along with representatives and officials from small business groups such as the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, the Korea Lodging Industry Association and the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise.
The platform operators shared the review and rating management systems they each run to prevent damage from malicious reviews. Some said they immediately hide a review for 30 days when a business owner files a request to take it down, or exclude reviews under such temporary measures from the calculation of average ratings.
Small business representatives described a range of cases in which the review and rating systems had hurt them on the ground. They cited customers who demanded free service or compensation and left low ratings when refused, as well as false reviews posted by people who had never placed an order or used the business. They pointed in particular to a structural problem in which a handful of malicious low ratings can sharply pull down a store's overall score.
The ministry said it will provide legal consultations with specialist lawyers and support in handling disputes through its Unfair Trade Damage Counseling Center for small business owners harmed by ratings and reviews. It also plans to expand its win-win growth evaluation program so that platform operators and small businesses can establish trading relationships on equal footing.
"For disputes to be settled fairly, the principle of equality of arms between the parties must be upheld, yet the review and star-rating system has created a structure of one-sided consumer dominance in which honest small business owners are harmed by malicious low ratings from just a few people, and this must be corrected," Second Vice Minister Lee Byung-kwon said. "We will actively reflect the views gathered here today in policy and communicate continuously with the platform industry, making every government effort to protect the rights and interests of small business owners."
