23rd Mar 2026 14:17
(Alliance News) - Italy's Competition & Market authority on Monday said it has jointly imposed a EUR4 million fine on Trustpilot Group PLC and its Danish and Italian entities for engaging in unfair commercial practices.
The authority said that the companies "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 reviews platform "allow businesses to select the consumers to whom review invitations are sent", despite promoting its services as tools "to reduce the risk of false or misleading content and to ensure greater system integrity", the authority said.
The authority also said it established that Trustpilot failed to ensure had adequate access to information regarding the functioning of the platform, the used 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 competition authority said.
The EUR4 million fine, which jointly applies to the UK holding, the Danish subsidiary Trustpilot A/S, and the Italian subsidiary Trustpilot Srl, was calculated on the back of the "wide diffusion" of the behaviour, and the "considerable" number of users impacted, on top of the three companies' 2024 sales figures.
The authority added that, from May to June of 2025, between 1 million and 10 million reviews were being published each month, and 1,000 to 10,000 Italian businesses were using Trustpilot's paid services.
Trustpilot shares were up 4.2% to 245.80 pence each on Monday afternoon in London.
By Martin Miraglia, Alliance News reporter
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