The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued two infringement notices to Tomsem Consolidated, which trades as PhotobookShop, over misleading influencer reviews.
“PhotobookShop’s misleading reviews may have caused consumers to buy PhotobookShop’s products when they would not have bought them based on the complete video review,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said in a statement.
Because of this, PhotobookShop paid $39,600 in penalties.
PhotobookShop Penalised Over Misleading Influencer Reviews
According to the ACCC, the investigation into PhotobookShop began “when an influencer reported concerns to the ACCC about a written agreement PhotobookShop presented to them that requested that they did not disclose they had been gifted a photobook in exchange for a review.”
The subsequent investigation discovered that, between August 2024 and September 2025, PhotobookShop commissioned influencers to publish reviews on social media.
107 of those occasions saw PhotobookShop instructing influencers not to disclose that they were paid with free PhotobookShop products valued at around $50 to $400 in exchange.
The first infringement notice was issued to PhotobookShop for posting a review published by an influencer without mentioning that it had provided them with a free product.
When Was the Second Notice Issued?
According to The Guardian, the second notice was issued after it was found out that PhotobookShop edited an influencer review to remove negative content.
The review, which said that PhotobookShop’s AI assistant tool is “a bit fiddly” and “a bit confusing,”
The original review reads, “I used their AI assistant tool to help me make it [the hard-cover photobook] and while it was a bit fiddly, it did help the overall experience and then I got the chance to modify anything I was unhappy with. It was a bit confusing but I am happy with my photo book.”
PhotobookShop edited a substantial part of the review so that it would say “I used their AI assistant tool to help me make it [the hard-cover photobook] and I am happy with my photo book.”
