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      "text": "Trustpilot is profiting from the chaos by charging businesses to “protect” their profiles, turning it into a “shady ecosystem” where authenticity is “non-existent.”",
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      "text": "THE REPORT AND ALL STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN ARE THE OPINIONS OF GRIZZLY RESEARCH...",
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      "text": "Rishi Chowdhury — “Trustpilot has become a joke. Spam reviews, fake claims. They don’t care about small businesses anymore.”",
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      "text": "Ryan Badger — “Trustpilot promises to be ‘free and open’ — in reality, they are the exact opposite, holding companies at ransom, and outright violating their own terms, as well as the law.”",
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      "text": "James Williams, Digital Marketing Consultant — “Flagged fake reviews that were clearly spam. Got auto-responses and nothing removed. Meanwhile, legitimate reviews were taken down.”",
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      "text": "In June 2025, an Australian tech journalist, in his blog, describes Trustpilot as a “Joke – A Playground for Fake Reviews, Shady Tactics And Scammers”. Thousands of businesses buying fake 5-star reviews via freelancers, agencies, or black-market services.",
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      "text": "The British company Baskets Galore explains how they are victims of the Trustpilot Mafia scheme in a dedicated podcast episode.",
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      "text": "Back in 2022, a blog commenter already describes a detailed case of the scheme: “Last year I emailed them many times regarding a company by the name of Maxen Power... 99% would be from the same address.”",
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      "text": "“Joke – A Playground for Fake Reviews, Shady Tactics And Scammers” — Australian tech journalist. “Last year I emailed them many times regarding a company by the name of Maxen Power, they employ staff based in Pakistan whose sole job was to write fake and bogus reviews (their own employee told me this).” — Blog commenter. “For years, we tolerated Trustpilot’s shady practices, robotic customer service, and overpriced subscription model in the hope that they might evolve into a fair, transparent platform. But after seeing firsthand how they’ve enabled malicious, fake, defamatory reviews, extorted small businesses, and used AI to silence legitimate complaints—we’re done. Finished.” — ADVICIFAS. “Trustpilot promises to be ‘free and open’—in reality, they are the exact opposite, holding companies at ransom, and outright violating their own terms, as well as the law.” — Ryan Badger. “Trustpilot has become a joke. Spam reviews, fake claims. They don’t care about small businesses anymore.” — Rishi Chowdhury. “Flagged fake reviews that were clearly spam. Got auto-responses and nothing removed. Meanwhile, legitimate reviews were taken down.” — James Williams. “All those website that advertise ‘2000 reviews on TrustPilot’ ‘5 star rating out of 10,000 reviews’ THEY ARE ALL PAID FOR” — RSH.",
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      "text": "The “Trustpilot Mafia” – How the Extortion Model Destroys Trustpilot’s Value Proposition",
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