Legality
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in fact found that in US businesses an alarming number of testimonials were in fact fictitious and misleading that in Dec of 2009 they introduced a new set of rules governing testimonials. In essence it is now illegal to use testimonials that "...mislead consumers and affect consumers' behavior or decisions about the product or service." However, despite new regulations, online consumers often view testimonials with a high degree of skepticism. Companies from the private sector have begun to offer testimonial verification services to help consumers verify the authenticity of displayed testimonials.
Read more about this topic: Testimonial