Google appeared to remove nearly 100,000 negative comments about the Robinhood app after outraged investors bombarded the start of the stock market with complaints.
Amateur traders were urged online to leave negative comments about the app on the Google Play Store after Robinhood froze the trading of GameStop shares and other shares whose prices have exploded this week.
The campaign seemed to work: Robinhood’s Android app had a one-star rating based on nearly 275,000 comments on Thursday, according to a screenshot captured by 9to5Google.
But that number had dropped to just over 176,000 on Friday at noon, as Google apparently debugged the bad reviews, causing the Robinhood rating to return to about four stars.
Google said it removes reviews of policies that prohibit users from manipulating an app’s average star rating. The technical technician says he has long-standing systems for detecting abuse of the review system, including those that are coordinated or inorganic, regardless of its content.
The company confirmed to The Verge and Gizmodo that it canceled some Robinhood reviews, but a Google spokesman’s response to an investigation by The Post did not specifically mention the app.
Google said developers cannot remove reviews from their apps themselves and that Play Store policies are prohibited from attempting to influence their app scores.
But none of that prevented angry Robinhood users from putting aside reviews of an app on Friday, even after the company eased its restrictions on GameStop and other actions. Some said Google was watching for negative comments.
“It would give zero stars unless apparently Google has been removing tons from a one-star review,” wrote one person, who gave Robinhood a two-star rating. “I have deactivated my account and will never use them again.”