Trustpilot detects and stamps out 2.2 million fake or harmful reviews in 2020

New Transparency Report unveils unseen data:

• Over 2.2m (5.7%) fake* reviews were detected and curbed from nearly 39 million written in 2020

• Trustpilot enforces platform guidelines issuing over 1,000 formal ‘cease and desist’ letters and 522 public consumer warnings during 2020

• Continued growth in Trustpilot’s publicly open platform shows the importance of consumers wanting to share their experiences without fear of manipulation  
  

18th February - London,  New York, Copenhagen - Trustpilot – a leading global review platform - today releases new data that shows more than 2.2 million fake or harmful reviews were stamped out from its platform in 2020. The company’s new Transparency Report opens up the workings of its business to demonstrate the scale of the protective, safeguarding measures it deploys as usage of its platform grows. Such measures ensure that anyone can share their experiences on its publicly open platform, allowing businesses to see that feedback and earn trust by listening and improving.

Trustpilot’s first ever Transparency Report shows that last year more than 2 million (2,209,230) fake or harmful reviews were tackled; more than 1.5 million (1,549,683) were removed automatically using automated fraud detection software and just over six hundred thousand (659,547) were removed manually.

Peter Mühlmann, Founder and CEO, Trustpilot said: “The popularity of online reviews has given consumers the confidence to buy more online from more businesses of all shapes and sizes. Fake reviews and misinformation are the enemy, and we continue to do all we can to prevent consumers from being misled. Trust is in our name, and trust is at the heart of all that we do as a business; if we are to be successful, we have to be more open and transparent in the way that we work.”

As well as data on how Trustpilot is proactively targeting and removing fake or harmful reviews, which totalled 5.7% of the total reviews written on the platform in 2020, the company has also revealed exactly how it enforces its guidelines for businesses and consumers. In total, Trustpilot sent 38,957 warnings, 1030 formal ‘cease and desist’ letters and posted 522 Consumer Warnings publically on profiles deemed to be severely in breach. 122 businesses also had their contracts terminated.

The Trustpilot Transparency Report also provides information on how many reviews were ‘flagged’ by businesses and consumers. Businesses reported just under half a million (469,107) suspicious reviews last year, with 62% of those taken offline, whereas consumers reported nearly 90 thousand (88,412) and 12% of those were removed.

Trustpilot has invested in technology that detects fake reviews through a combination of specially developed software and teams of specially trained investigators. Reviews are published in the first place without interference, but when fake reviews are detected by the company, or reviews are flagged by businesses or consumers, strict guidelines are in place to ensure suspect activity is identified and removed as soon as possible. The global platform continues to provide increased insight into how every business is obtaining, reporting and responding to reviews through its Business Transparency pages.

Trustpilot’s Chief Trust Officer, Carolyn Jameson said, “The integrity of reviews and how they’re managed differs greatly across the internet. Our open approach provides everyone with the ability to have their say at any time, without waiting to be invited and without interference, giving a more holistic and authentic view of what’s really going on. At Trustpilot, we’re surfacing what we do and giving everyone more understanding and greater confidence in the information on our platform. We want people to continue to trust what they see.”

Trust in online reviews has never been more important as consumers increasingly look to buy goods and services online. Activity on Trustpilot’s platform grew in 2020; there was a 25% increase in reviews globally, and views of businesses on the website increased by 29% when comparing March with October 2020. In total nearly 39 million (38,687,548) reviews were written last year, there were 540 million views of company profile pages and more than 300 thousand (314,275) businesses were reviewed. 

For further information about Trustpilot’s Transparency Report please visit: https://www.trustpilot.com/trust/transparency (Page live 18 February 2021)

Notes to Editors

*Definition of a fake review on Trustpilot (taken from Trustpilot Transparency Report, 2021, p.26)

The type of reviews Trustpilot considers to be ‘fake reviews’ include:

• a business leaving a review on its own Trustpilot profile;

• a review that have been paid for in an effort to manipulate a business’s rating on Trustpilot;

• a review left on a competitor’s Trustpilot page in a deliberate attempt to undermine their rating on Trustpilot;

• advertising or promotional messages of any kind that are disguised as reviews;

• a review that has been removed from the platform because it contains harmful or illegal content;

• is not based on a genuine experience or is not about the business being reviewed.

About Trustpilot

Trustpilot was founded in 2007 with a vision to create an independent currency of trust.

We are a digital platform that brings businesses and consumers together to foster trust and inspire collaboration. We are free to use, open to everybody and built on transparency.

Trustpilot hosts reviews to help consumers shop with confidence, and deliver rich insights to help businesses improve the experience they offer. The more consumers use our platform and share their own opinions; the richer the insights we offer businesses; and the more opportunities they have to earn the trust of consumers, from all around the world.

Over 120 million consumer reviews of businesses and products relating to over 530,000 domains have been posted on Trustpilot and those numbers are growing by more than one review per second.  

Trustpilot has over 700 employees and is headquartered in Copenhagen, with operations in London, Edinburgh, New York, Denver, Melbourne, Berlin and Vilnius.

Trustpilot announces 2020 global partners of the year

December 15, 2020 - Trustpilot has today announced its 2020 global partners of the year, an award dedicated to the top tech companies and partner agencies that have shown the best skills and communication in enabling partners to take advantage of the online reviews platform. The award is given to two recipients in each region of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia/New Zealand.

This year’s award winners include:

• US: Yext (Tech Award) and 3Q Digital (Agency Award)

• UK: ServiceTick (Tech Award) and Strategy Hand (Agency Award)

• ANZ: Emarsys (Tech Award) and Concise.Digital (Agency Award)

“Our partners awarded this year have demonstrated excellence in helping us grow businesses on Trustpilot and trust with consumers,” said Peter Simpson, Head of Global Partnerships atTrustpilot. “While our partners share our mission to help businesses thrive globally, they each add their own unique value, making our partnerships so rewarding and diverse. We commend them and honor their hard work with this partner of the year award.”

About Trustpilot

Trustpilot’s mission is to be a universal symbol of trust. The power of the Trustpilot platform comes from it being free and open to all consumers and businesses, and independent of both. With more than 100 million consumer reviews of over 400,000 companies and websites, Trustpilot empowers consumers to share their feedback any time with businesses and other consumers, as well as being a place to find businesses they can trust. For businesses, Trustpilot is a powerful way to listen and respond to consumers, improve their offering and earn trust. Trustpilot reviews and widgets have more than 6 billion online impressions every month. Located in Copenhagen, London, Edinburgh, New York, Denver, Melbourne, Berlin and Vilnius, Trustpilot's 700 employees represent more than 45 different nationalities. For more information, visit  https://www.trustpilot.com/

Trustpilot launches global R&D Hub in Edinburgh to develop cutting-edge technology to protect trust online

New R&D Hub will receive co-investment with £1.8m from Scottish Enterprise, supporting new technology innovations, 30 highly skilled jobs initially and local partnerships over the next 3 years

07 July 2020 - Copenhagen - London - Edinburgh - Trustpilot today announced the creation of a new global R&D and Innovation Hub in Edinburgh, Scotland, to develop new, world-leading technology that proactively tackles the behaviour that threatens trust online. The Hub is being supported through a £1.8m R&D grant from Scottish Enterprise, bringing new investment into Scotland’s leading digital and technology sector and aims to initially create 30 new advanced data science jobs and new local partnerships in Edinburgh over the next three years. 

Peter Holten Muhlmann, Founder and CEO of Trustpilot said, “The crisis of trust in society, driven to a great degree by mistrust in information online, has become a defining issue of our times. With the assistance of Scottish Enterprise, our new global R&D Hub will become the epi-centre for accelerating our already leading efforts to tackle abuse and fraud related to consumer information, particularly consumer reviews. It’s especially important as reviews have replaced company marketing as the most trusted source of information for consumers. We’re investing in even better fake detection to stimulate meaningful change. The technology scene in Edinburgh is thriving, with exceptional talent and an enviable network that will help us to meet our ambitions. We’re delighted to bring our global efforts to Scotland.”

The announcement follows on from a recent ‘Trust Promise’ made by Muhlmann in an Open Letter, pledging seven new initiatives this year to further protect consumers with even greater transparency of the information on the consumer reviews platform.

One such initiative to roll out in the coming months will be the introduction of new ‘Fraud Fingerprinting’ technology adding additional behavioural data points to those Trustpilot already collects and combining these with advanced data modelling to detect and map fraudulent online activity. This will enable Trustpilot to paint a more holistic picture of the interconnected networks, actions, and behavioural patterns of fraudulent actors. Such technologies will be surrounded by other changes to the platform including: preventing incentivised reviews, more stringent enforcement of breaches and even more transparency around how all companies and consumers use the platform, amongst others. 

Trustpilot’s new office will be spearheaded by two of Trustpilot’s Executive team, Carolyn Jameson, Chief Legal and Policy Officer and Steve Garland, Chief Technology and Information Officer.

Carolyn Jameson, “We take the responsibility to protect both consumers and businesses from fraudulent behaviour very seriously, and believe strong detection and enforcement measures are fundamental to our open review platform. Creating a fair and open environment where consumers’ voices can be heard and businesses are able to earn greater trust in their products and services requires the best thinking and expertise. We believe Edinburgh is the top place to find it, and I’m really excited to be a part of this initiative.”

Mark Hallan, Director of Global Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Attracting global companies to invest and locate in Scotland will be critical to our efforts to resetting and restarting our economy following the impact of COVID-19. 

“Trustpilot’s decision to set up an R&D centre in Edinburgh is most welcome. Over the past few months, we have seen exponential growth in digital consumer activity and e-commerce, so it’s vital that customers can trust information that is available online, including online reviews. Trustpilot’s R&D project aims to improve the integrity of this data, providing increased confidence for e-consumers.

“Scotland remains an extraordinary proposition for global companies to invest in and as the recent EY Attractiveness Survey showed, we continue to be the most attractive location in the UK outside of London for foreign direct investment. While we know the environment for international trade and investment will be challenging due to COVID-19, inward investment will continue to be vital in delivering economic opportunities for communities across Scotland.”

Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation Ivan McKee said, “I am delighted that Trustpilot has chosen to base its new global R&D and Innovation Hub in Edinburgh where it will develop world-leading technology. Over the coming months and years, as we recover from the economic impact of the global coronavirus pandemic, it is important that we look to the future and encourage new and innovative businesses to establish bases in Scotland. This grant from Scottish Enterprise will help secure new highly skilled jobs in Scotland, bring new investment into our leading digital and technology sector and further enhance Edinburgh’s reputation as a global technology centre.”

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About Trustpilot

Trustpilot is the world’s most powerful review platform - free and open to all. With more than 94 million reviews of over 400,000 domains, Trustpilot gives people a place to share and discover reviews of businesses, and we give every company the tools to turn consumer feedback into business results. Our mission is to bring people and businesses closer together to create ever-improving experiences for everyone. Trustpilot reviews are seen more than 4 billion times each month by consumers worldwide. With offices in Copenhagen, London, Edinburgh, New York, Denver, Berlin, Melbourne, Vilnius, Trustpilot's 720 employees represent more than 40 different nationalities. For more information, visit  https://www.trustpilot.com/

About Scottish Enterprise:

Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s national economic development agency and a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.  To deliver a significant, lasting effect on the Scottish economy, we work with partners in the public and private sectors to find and exploit the best opportunities.  We are committed to growing the Scottish economy for the benefit of all, helping to create more quality jobs and a brighter future for every region.

 About Scottish Development International:

Scottish Development International is the international arm of Scottish Enterprise. As Scotland’s trade and inward investment agency, our aim is to encourage more overseas businesses to set up a location here, invest in Scottish businesses or buy Scottish products.  We do this by providing information, partnering with businesses and investors who want to set up or invest here, and helping businesses find the connections they need.

Trustpilot announces seven new initiatives as Founder and CEO vows to fight for trust in online reviews

24 June 2020 - London - New York - Copenhagen - Trustpilot today announced a number of new initiatives as part of a commitment from Founder and CEO, Peter Muhlmann to fight for and maintain trust in the online reviews space. The introduction of seven new initiatives form part of a ‘Trust promise’ in Muhlmann’s open letter.

“Trust across our societies and in a number of institutions is broken. The Internet is a platform for progress, unlocking incredible collaboration and positive change, yet it has also become a tool for dividing us and destroying trust, too. Rediscovering lost trust in all its guises is a defining issue of our times,” said Peter Muhlmann, Founder and CEO Trustpilot.

Muhlmann continued, “Consumer reviews could become the next victim of the same benign forces of distrust that have plagued other parts of the Internet: specifically, the suppression of authentic consumer voice through censorship, manipulation and fakes. At Trustpilot, we must and will do more to protect the value of openness and transparency in reviews, as a fundamental part of our open internet.”

Seven new initiatives are highlighted as part of Muhlmann’s Trust promise:

• ‘Flagged’ reviews will remain online
  Any company or consumer can flag a review they believe to be fake or which breaks Trustpilot’s rules. Going forward those reviews will remain online while investigated, with the exception of illegal content.

• Companies that breach the guidelines will no longer have reviews shared with search engines
  Trustpilot stars will no longer appear in search engine results for companies who have had a consumer alert put on their page.
  

• Pioneering a new ‘fraud fingerprint’ system
  Enhancing Trustpilot’s ability to detect and remove fake reviews with new technology that helps to pinpoint the source of fake reviews and reviewers.
  

• Strengthen the ‘consumer alert’ system
  When a company is caught trying to game the system, consumers will know, via a clearer and faster system of public alerts.
  

• Increased resource in Content Integrity and Data Science teams
  Trustpilot uses advanced technology built by skilled data scientists to weed out fakes and abuse, supplemented with highly trained content integrity agents and fraud investigators. Investment and people will double in these areas.
  

• Even greater transparency on company pages
  On top of the extensive data already shared, Trustpilot is adding new data that will help consumers to see exactly how every company uses the platform.
  

• No longer allow review incentives
  Despite most companies using incentives in the right way to get more feedback, there’s growing concern that any incentive could sway feedback in a more positive direction. Incentives of any kind, such as future discounts, loyalty points, gifts or payment in exchange for a review will no longer be allowed on Trustpilot.

These new initiatives form part of Trustpilot’s wider ambition to be the most trusted and transparent reviews platform globally and are due to be implemented by Christmas 2020. They follow on from other changes already implemented this year, including new guidelines and updated reporting reasons to additional transparency around review invites and sources.

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About Trustpilot
Trustpilot is the world’s most powerful review platform - free and open to all. With more than 90 million reviews of over 350,000 websites, Trustpilot gives people a place to share and discover reviews of businesses, and we give every company the tools to turn consumer feedback into business results. Our mission is to be a universal symbol of trust. Built on openness, transparency and collaboration, we bring people and companies closer together to create ever-improving experiences for everyone. With offices in Copenhagen, London, New York, Denver, Berlin, Melbourne, Vilnius and Edinburgh Trustpilot's 800 employees represent more than 40 different nationalities. For more information, visit https://www.trustpilot.com/

Trustpilot response to CMA investigation into online reviews sector

“The CMA has notified us of their investigation into the UK reviews industry. Naturally we will support them with whatever information and resources they seek. Our platform is built on openness and transparency so consumers can trust what they read and all consumers have a voice. We’ve invested millions on people and technology to detect, expose and take action against those who seek to deceive consumers, and we continue investing millions as we’re never complacent in tackling foul play. We welcome the investigation to ensure the whole reviews industry meets the standards that we seek to achieve and to ensure that all consumers are protected.”