By Bianca Lopez, Senior Associate

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

The ACCC has recently fired the opening shot in its long‑signalled crackdown on influencer marketing, taking action against a business that blurred the line between “authentic content” and undisclosed advertising.

In March 2026, the ACCC issued two infringement notices and $39,600 in fines to Victorian-based business Tomsem Consolidated Pty Ltd, trading as PhotobookShop, after uncovering compliance issues surrounding PhotobookShop gifting products worth between $50 and $400 to influencers in return for “positive” reviews and instructing influencers to post content without including relevant disclosures.

Although such issues have previously been within the purview of AdStandards, this is the first instance of the ACCC imposing a financial penalty for such breaches. The message from the ACCC to marketers is clear: if it talks like an #ad and walks like an #ad, the ACCC expects it to be labelled like one, or else financial penalties can apply.

PhotobookShop’s #adfail

Influencer marketing and customer reviews are powerful ways to build trust with consumers, but they only work if they are transparent. Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), sponsored content must be clearly disclosed, and reviews must be genuine, balanced and free from business interference.

The ACCC’s investigation into PhotobookShop pulled up over 107 influencer engagements between August 2024 and September 2025 where standard, required practices were not followed. For each engagement, the ACCC uncovered that PhotobookShop issued instructions to the influencers to not disclose that the products were gifted by the brand. A contract revealed by the ACCC saw PhotobookShop instructing influencers as follows:

“Please ensure that your videos do not mention that the product is free, sponsored, or that PhotobookShop contacted you to create them in exchange for products.”

In keeping with these instructions, an influencer created a review, which PhotobookShop then posted to its Instagram page without any disclosures. It was for this reason that the first infringement was issued to PhotobookShop, with the ACCC raising concern that PhotobookShop represented to consumers that the review was organic and unpaid, when that was not the case.

The ACCC then issued a second infringement to PhotobookShop after uncovering that PhotobookShop posted an edited version of an influencer review of the brand’s AI assistant tool to its Instagram page. In the original review, the influencer made note that the AI assistant tool was “a bit fiddly” and “a bit confusing”. The original review read as follows:

“I used their AI assistant tool to help me make it [PhotobookShop’s product] 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.”

The review posted by PhotobookShop, however, removed these statements so that only the positive elements of the review remained:

“I used their AI assistant tool to help me make it [PhotobookShop’s product] and I am happy with my photo book.”

PhotobookShop did not include disclosures that the review had been substantially edited when it was posted to its Instagram page. The ACCC stated that the undisclosed edits to the review changed the overall impression, making it more favourable to the brand.

They told us this was coming

You may recall our earlier article published in January 2023 when the ACCC announced the influencer industry was on its watch list, as well as our follow up article from 2024 once the ACCC had released its report findings from their preliminary investigations into social media influencer activity and online business reviews.

As a quick reminder, the ACCC undertook two internet sweeps in 2023 that delved into both social media influencer activity and online business reviews. In its review of influencer content, the ACCC completed a sweep of activity across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, reviewing the online activity of 118 influencers across seven sectors following reports from consumers that these influencers were posting potentially misleading information. In the second internet sweep, the ACCC separately investigated 137 businesses for fake or misleading online reviews. The ACCC identified that 37% of the 137 businesses had engaged in potentially fake or misleading online review conduct

Both sweeps focused on online activity from a misleading or deceptive conduct perspective and breaches of the ACL, with particular attention to inadequate disclosures when influencers receive payments, gifts or other incentives from brands in exchange for content, and businesses posting fake or misleading online reviews or otherwise not disclosing when reviews were incentivised or paid.

In line with our predictions, the ACCC is now actively pursuing brands for the activity outlined above. It just so happens that PhotobookShop was engaging in conduct that placed it firmly within both areas of concern identified by the ACCC, making it a particularly strong choice for the ACCC’s inaugural target case.

This is only the beginning

None of this should come as a surprise. The ACCC has made no secret of its focus on cleaning up the wild west of influencer marketing and dodgy online reviews, citing both as enforcement priorities and putting brands on notice to clean up their processes.

In the ACCC’s press release for PhotobookShop, the ACCC noted that it will soon release specific guidelines for influencers that will clearly stipulate their obligations under the ACL. In the press release, the ACCC continued to state that influencers and the businesses engaging them need to be aware of their obligations under the ACL, signalling that the ACCC’s attention on influencer marketing is far from over.

While we have said this before, now really is crunch time and it is important now more than ever for brands to ensure the practices and procedures in the influencer space are compliant. Influencers and online reviews are powerful marketing tools and have strong benefits for brands, provided they get it right. In the past, the most significant action against an advertiser for failing to disclose an advertising relationship with an influencer, or identify advertising content, was a complaint to AdStandards, which, if upheld, would require removal or modification of the advertisement. Now that the ACCC has shown its hand, stronger financial penalties are a clear and present risk.

If you are working with influencers or utilising online reviews as part of your marketing strategy, now is the time to make sure your disclosures and practices stack up under the ACL. If you’re unsure where the line sits, or would rather not find out the hard way, get in touch with one of our experts below.