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Matthias Knab, Opalesque: Activist short seller Grizzly Research has released a new report on online review platform Trustpilot, arguing that the company's business model is fundamentally compromised by pay-to-play dynamics and what they describe as "mafia-style" pressure on businesses to sign up for paid plans.
Trustpilot operates a freemium model: consumers can post and read reviews for free, while businesses can pay for subscription packages that offer analytics, marketing tools and review-management features. According to Grizzly, however, unsolicited profiles are created for businesses that never signed up, which then attract a wave of hyper-negative reviews. Those that refuse to pay are left with poor scores, while paying clients allegedly see their ratings improve dramatically and their review volumes surge.
The report claims that paying customers benefit from a combination of selective enforcement and review "gating": negative reviews for subscribers are more easily flagged and removed, while obviously fake positive reviews, spam accounts and even gibberish 5-star posts are allegedly tolerated as long as they support paying clients. By contrast, non-paying businesses are said to face harsh moderation of positive feedback and little help in dealing with misleading or misattributed negative reviews.
Grizzly also highlights multiple examples across sectors - from opticians and washing-machine brands to ISPs, online ph...................... To view our full article Click here
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