I spent the day reading and analyzing the “study” put out by Grizzly Research on Trustpilot reviews. I tried to come at it with an open mind, but I struggled mightily to do so. I found too many holes and issues. It started to remind me of the Yelp “documentary,” Billion Dollar Bully. Did they highlight some issues with the review filtering system? Yes, they did. Are they able to prove that Trustpilot is culpable in these review schemes? Let’s find out.
To even get to the “study,” you have to read several paragraphs of their legal disclaimer. I will address the legal disclaimer later. I want to dive into their findings. They stated that they spoke with industry experts. There is no mention of who these experts are. I know I wasn’t consulted. If you are going to conduct and present a study, you need to be transparent about how you collected your data. I want to know who these experts are so I can vet them. It doesn’t seem to matter, as there is no mention of these experts beyond their coining the phrase “Trustpilot Mafia.” Why are there no mentions of this on Google prior to this study being published? This is the first time I am hearing this phrase.
Next, GR notes that an unnamed insider advised that Trustpilot maintains a list of people willing to post positive reviews. There is no way to vet this person or determine whether their information is accurate. GR claims that Trustpilot engages in tactics to control who leaves reviews on the platform. GR refers to this method as review-gating. Again, no proof is shown to back up this claim. Review-gating is when you ask people if they are happy with a service, and if they say no or provide a low score, you allow the feedback to remain private.
GR mentioned Google’s Reputation Abuse Policy (RAP), but they don’t understand what it means or why it was published. The RAP was put in place because websites like Forbes were publishing low-quality content and outranking legitimate ones. Forbes took a massive traffic hit and ended up laying off people. Again, had GR contacted legitimate or trusted experts, they would have learned about this and not wondered if Google would demote TP’s rankings. I haven’t even gotten into the data yet, and I have found two alarming issues.
GR proceeds to claim that TP charges an extortion fee to businesses. They state, “Trustpilot has created a platform to attract bad reviews, and customers must pay to dilute the bad reviews. This created a review system that only seems to express who pays Trustpilot.” This is quite the belief; let’s see if there is any data to back this up. GR uses Warby Parker and SmartBuyGlasses as examples. Warby Parker has a 1.8 average with 195 reviews, whereas SmartBuyGlasses has a 4.7 average with 17,868 reviews. I have never heard of either brand. As it turns out Warby Parker has locations you can visit in person. SmartBuyGlasses is only available online. Why does this matter? People are more inclined to leave reviews on Google. In the recent BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Study, only 11% of people check reviews on TP. Comparing the two businesses is like comparing apples and oranges.
To continue this unfair balance, GR compares the reviews for the following brands:
Eyebuydirect, which has 20K Google reviews
Warby Parker, which has 101 Google reviews and has physical locations
Glasses USA, which has 98K Google reviews
Target Optical, which has zero Google reviews and has physical locations
Zenni Optical, which has 56K Google reviews and has physical locations
America’s best contacts & Eyeglasses, which has 31 Google reviews
SmartBuyGlasses does not have a Google Knowledge Panel
The brands with low Google review counts also have low Trustpilot review counts. Is Google part of this mafia? Have they formed a Cabal?
GR shows the review counts and ratings for five Vodafone profiles. Only one is suspected to be part of the paid subscription plan. How do we know Vodafone is aware of these profiles? If so, could it be that someone isn’t actively monitoring them? On other review platforms, you receive an email or notification each time a new review is posted. What if the person who had that email address is no longer with the company?
GR dives into pharmacy brands. Again, they highlight online only brands compared to businesses with physical stores. They highlight how CVS and Walgreens have 1.5 and 1.6 ratings. Neither brands receive high marks from consumers in the United States.
Next, we see examples of how people are able to leave multiple reviews for the same business. Other platforms allowed users to leave one review and update it. They also show when the review was updated. TP doesn’t do this. GR sees this as a sign of review manipulation.
Does Trustpilot have a Review Integrity Issue?
Yes, Trustpilot does have an issue with fake reviews. Who doesn’t? Please show me a review platform with no problems with fake reviews. I’ll wait. Everyyear Google puts out data on how many fraudulent reviews that were preventefd from being posted or were removed. Google still has an issue combating reviews. In the United States the FTC in October 2021 warned more than 700 businesses about the possibilty of incurring a penalty up to $43,792 per review violation.
The issue is black hat spammers keep trying to game the system on a daily basis. They keep at it to perfect their craft. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Online reviews are a lucrative business. Businesses look for any edge over their competitors. Fake review sellers are making money with their services.
The same issues Trustpilot faces are same issues as Meta, Google, Yelp, and every other review platform. I have been studying and talking about online reviews since December 2016. It has not gotten any easier. Hopefully, this “study,” brings about necessary changes. This “study,” may take on a life of its own.
Remember how earlier, I mentioned GR’s legal notice? The fact there are glaring holes in their data, research, and transparency, might not be covered by their disclaimer. They shorted the stock. Trustpilots stock dropped 31.89% losing 60.50 pounds. They did this while defaming in writing. Trustpilot. They did it writting. They have may opened themselves up to a massive lawsuit from Trustpilot, investors, and stock traders. I hope Trustpilot sues them, so that Grizzly Research is forced to turn over their documents and communictations. We need to know who they spoke with what data they looked at and what data was omitted. I supect that they royally stepped in it. I am glad that they did not consult me. I don’t want to be sued over this “study.”
