UPDATE: Trustpilot pledges to "robustly appeal" EUR4 million fine

(Alliance News) - Trustpilot Group PLC on Monday said it "strongly" disagrees with the findings of an Italian Competition Authority investigation, which resulted in an EUR4 million penalty.

Trustpilot shares were up 1.7% at 240.00 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

The AGCM, announcing the fine earlier on Monday, said that Trustpilot and Danish and Italian entities "failed to carry out adequate checks to ensure the authenticity of the reviews published on their platform, including where such reviews were labelled by Trustpilot as verified".

It also said that the review platform allowed businesses "to select the consumers to whom review invitations are sent," and failed to ensure adequate access to information about the platform's functioning, the use of paid-for services by businesses, and "other aspects relevant to consumer decision-making".

"Taken together, these conducts – also implemented using interface design techniques typical of dark patterns – amount to a misleading practice," the AGCM said.

The Copenhagen, Denmark-based consumer review platform said the fine was due to "an alleged breach of the Italian Consumer Code relating to a single unfair commercial practice."

Trustpilot, which said its Italian business comprised around 5% of its 2025 revenue, stated: "We strongly disagree with the finding and will robustly appeal. As the world's largest open customer feedback platform, we empower consumers with a trusted, transparent review ecosystem."

The company highlighted its "multi-layered fraud detection" capabilities, said that all businesses "whether free or paid, must comply with the same policies," and added: "We disagree with the AGCM's conclusions that the user interface does not fully meet the transparency requirements of the Consumer Code.

"Our platform provides clear and comprehensive information to consumers, including our 'Verified' labels and robust 'TrustScore' methodology. We strongly reject the assertion that Trustpilot uses 'dark patterns'."

Trustpilot also said it "expressly [bans] review gating, also known as cherry-picking" through incentivising reviews or only asking satisfied customers to review a business, and that each business's 'TrustScore' "is calculated by an automated mathematical formula...and cannot be manually altered by any Trustpilot employee, including commercial teams."

The firm added: "We do not expect the outcome of this process to have a material adverse impact on our business operations or financial position."

Chief Executive Officer Adrian Blair, meanwhile, said the regulator's decision "ignores the reality of how Trustpilot works".

"We remain steadfast in our mission to provide a trusted platform where we empower people to share their genuine experiences with businesses," Blair continued. "We will robustly appeal this flawed finding."

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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