# A vendor wants to sell us table stands: scan a QR code, write a review, grab a free drink. Is that allowed? | Illia BizTech

> A vendor offers table stands that lead guests via QR code to a Google review and promise a free drink regardless of what the review says.

Source: https://illia-biztech.de/en/forum/ein-anbieter-will-uns-aufsteller-verkaufen-qr-code-scannen-bewertung-schreiben-gratis-getrank-holen-ist-das-erlaubt

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# A vendor wants to sell us table stands: scan a QR code, write a review, grab a free drink. Is that allowed?

A vendor offers table stands that lead guests via QR code to a Google review and promise a free drink regardless of what the review says.

* ##### Asked by  
BrightCipher230
* ##### Asked on  
October 21, 2026

We were offered a setup for our restaurant: a table stand reading 'Scan the QR code, write a review, pick up your gift.' The guest scans the code, writes a review, positive or negative, and gets a free drink for it either way.

Several people we know already run this and say it's just a thank-you for the effort.

Is a model like this even allowed, or are we taking on a risk?

#### Answers

![Portrait of Alina Belichenko, content and social media specialist](/_ipx/f_webp,q_75/https://cms.illia-biztech.de/uploads/small_Alina_Belichenko_author_ae667ebec9.png)

##### Alina Belichenko · Content & Video Specialist

✓ Accepted answer October 21, 2026 

This model differs from bought fake reviews in one important respect, because guests actually ate at your place and write a genuine opinion regardless of the outcome. The real problem sits in the undisclosed reward for the review, and that hidden incentive is what creates the risk, whatever the review itself ends up saying.

Anyone who receives a review in exchange for a reward has to disclose that link, because without the disclosure the review looks like an independent, spontaneous customer opinion when an incentive actually sits behind it. A stand that trades a review for a free drink without making that link visible anywhere is a risk to your profile and to your reputation, and any unhappy competitor can make that risk visible at any time.

Separately from that, Google's own policies for business profiles explicitly ban any review given in exchange for a reward, whether that's money, a discount, or a drink. A violation can lead to the affected reviews being removed, or the whole profile being suspended after repeated cases, regardless of how genuine the reviews themselves were in content.

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**Topics** 
* Google reviews
* competition law