Google has deleted negative reviews of the stock trading app Robinhood after backlash over the company’s decision Thursday to block users from buying or trading stocks that were popular on a Reddit subforum.
There was an influx of negative reviews of the app on the Google Play store after users on Reddit pushed for campaigns to leave one-star reviews over the app’s decision to ban trading stocks that were popularized on the forum WallStreetBets. The app limited buying or trading stocks including GameStop, AMC and BlackBerry.
At the time of writing, Google has removed at least 100,000 negative reviews of the app from its Play store.
A spokesperson for Google confirmed that the company took action on reviews found to be inauthentic or in violation of the company’s policy.
Google’s policies prohibit “fake ratings” that are “meant to manipulate an app’s average rating or top reviews.” Similarly, developers are not allowed to remove reviews or attempt to influence their rating by boosting it with five-star reviews.
Reviews that don’t follow Google’s policies are subject to be removed from the Google Play store.
As of Friday afternoon, Robinhood’s rating in the Google Play store was at an overall three and a half stars. A spokesperson for Google noted that there were still remaining one-star reviews.
On the Apple App Store, Robinhood had nearly a full five-star rating as of Friday afternoon. But most of the recent reviews were one-star ratings and criticized the company over its decision to block the trading of the stocks that gained popularity through the Reddit forum.
Robinhood resumed trading for these stocks Friday and apologized to customers after facing intense backlash from users, as well as politicians and celebrities.
