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Italy’s Competition Watchdog Penalizes Trustpilot Over Consumer Review System

By  |  March 23, 2026

Italy’s competition regulator has fined online review platform Trustpilot and its units 4 million euros ($4.6 million) after finding the company did not do enough to verify whether reviews on its site were genuine and allegedly misled consumers about how its services operate, according to Reuters.

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    The penalty was announced on Monday (March 23) by the Italian Competition Authority, which said Trustpilot’s review collection system allowed businesses to choose which customers were invited to leave feedback. Per Reuters, the regulator said that the practice allegedly weakened the reliability and representativeness of ratings shown on the platform, even when reviews were marked as “verified.”

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    The watchdog also said Trustpilot used interface designs associated with so-called dark patterns to make it harder for users to understand important details about how the platform functions and which businesses were paying for services, according to Reuters. The authority said those practices breached Italy’s consumer protection rules.

    The fine comes several months after short seller Grizzly Research accused Trustpilot of creating fake profiles that posted negative reviews and then pressuring companies into buying subscriptions. Trustpilot rejected those allegations at the time, according to Reuters.

    The Italian case adds to scrutiny of how online review platforms manage authenticity checks and present information to consumers, with regulators increasingly focused on whether ratings systems fairly reflect real customer experiences.

    Source: Reuters