idealo offers its users on the comparison platforms, including mobile applications (apps), in some cases the opportunity to comment on listed merchants. This can be done by means of text contributions and stars (hereinafter collectively referred to as "ratings"). One star represents the lowest rating and five stars the highest. Reviews can be viewed by all users and merchants of the comparison platform. The merchants affected by a rating can respond to the rating by commenting on the rating.

I. General information

1. Reviews are not content created by idealo

The published ratings and comments do not represent statements, assertions and/or opinions of idealo; in particular, idealo does not adopt these contents as its own.

2. Publication and verification

idealo does not check whether reviews originate from consumers who have actually used or purchased the rated goods or services from the merchant, unless the respective review is labelled as a "verified opinion". Further information on this verification process can be found on the respective product detail pages and here.

3. Overall ratings

idealo calculates an overall rating from the individual published star ratings. This is calculated as follows:

Merchant ratings: The overall rating of a merchant is based on the average value of all published reviews from the last 180 days. If a supplier has received fewer than 10 ratings within the last 180 days, the last 10 ratings are used to calculate the overall rating. Services (ordering process, delivery/packaging, service/warranty) can be rated separately and have no influence on the merchant's overall rating.

Product ratings: The overall rating of a product results from the average value of all published reviews. This also includes reviews provided to idealo by third parties (e.g. Cimenio, Media Markt).

II. Who is authorised to submit a valuation?

Users may only submit reviews if they are or were actually customers of the merchant being reviewed. In particular, they may not submit reviews if they

• are owners of the rated merchant, family members of the owner or employees of the merchant, or

• have received or been promised consideration from the merchant or an authorised representative of the merchant for a review. This includes discounts, vouchers, cash benefits, gifts, loyalty points and referral bonuses.
  
  

III. How can an evaluation be submitted?

You can rate merchants via a button on the respective merchant page.

Users are obliged to state their customer or order number when rating a merchant. The number is not published within the rating.

The supplier can view ratings and the associated customer or order number within his idealo Business Account.

This gives them the opportunity to identify users as customers, take note of reviews and, if necessary, respond to them with a comment. The comment is displayed below the rating.

The review can be submitted under a pseudonym. In this case, the name of the reviewer is not published in connection with the review and can only be researched by the merchant using the customer or order number.

Information on the processing of personal data can be found in our privacy policy.

Users can have their rating removed by clicking the "Delete rating" button in the approval email or by sending a deactivation request to meinungen@idealo.de.

In the event of a change request, users have the option of sending a deactivation request to meinungen@idealo.de and writing a new review.

Users are advised to keep evidence relating to their experience with a rated merchant in the event of a possible complaint about the rating (in particular order confirmations, invoices, tracking numbers, dispatch confirmations, exchanges with customer service).

IV. What content may ratings and comments have?

idealo emphasises a factual description of the customer experience that takes into account both positive and negative aspects of the shopping experience. The content of reviews must relate exclusively to the rated merchant and be directly related to it. They must be unbiased, contain relevant information and reflect the actual experiences of the users making the assessment. Reviews and comments must be written in the respective language of the comparison platform used or in English. The following content is not permitted:

1. Spam and repetitions 

Reviews and comments must not constitute spam. In particular, they must not contain any advertising content or repetitive text and must be comprehensible in terms of content. It is not permitted to submit multiple identical reviews or reviews with comparable content in relation to a specific merchant.

2. Irrelevant, misleading or inaccurate content

Reviews and comments must not contain any irrelevant, untrue or misleading information. They may not refer exclusively to other ratings, to merchants other than the rated merchant or to products other than those on which the rating is based. According to applicable law, reviews must be demonstrably true insofar as they claim facts or contain a factual core.

3. Illegal content

Reviews and comments on reviews must not contain any illegal content. The following in particular are prohibited

• Insults, in particular abusive criticism,
• Sexist, discriminatory, defamatory or obscene content,
• Coercion and other criminal content,
• Content that infringes the intellectual property rights of third parties and
• The publication of personal or relatable data.

idealo reserves the right to restrict the display of ratings and comments if they violate the above principles. In this case, idealo will inform users and/or merchants affected by this measure. Users will be informed by e-mail to the e-mail address provided when submitting the rating.

Users and merchants affected by such a measure have access to idealo's internal complaints management system. Further information on the complaints procedure can be found here.

idealo reserves the right to restrict the display of reviews that idealo deems irrelevant for users at its own discretion. This applies in particular to reviews that are no longer up to date, relate to products that are no longer listed on the comparison platform or if the rated merchant has changed its business name after submitting the review.

 

V. How can ratings and comments be objected to?

Users, merchants and other persons can report ratings and comments whose content they consider to be unlawful.

Our reporting system is available for reporting such content. Suppliers can also complain about reviews within their idealo Business account.

If required by law, idealo will ask the user to comment or restrict the display of the rating. Otherwise, idealo may decide at its own discretion whether to restrict the display of the rating or ask the user to comment. If, in the latter case, users refuse to amend or withdraw their ratings, idealo will decide at its own discretion whether to restrict the display of the rating.

Current as of: 16. Februar 2024