Trustpilot guideline: misuse of the flagging tool
Every business gets a free flagging tool, and every business is watched for how it uses it. This rule is the reason careful removal work runs over weeks. The penalty lands on the business's profile, whoever clicked the flag. We work inside this rule, on a schedule measured in weeks per pack, and you pay per removal.
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Short answer
Trustpilot treats four flagging patterns as misuse. They are flagging negative reviews that follow the guidelines, flagging the same review repeatedly, negative-only flagging and bulk flagging over a short period. The response escalates from an educational email to a warning, a cease-and-desist notice, account restrictions and a public Consumer Warning. Each business's flagging record for the past 12 months is public. The penalty applies to the business profile, whoever sent the flags.
Key facts
Trustpilot gives four examples of flagging misuse: flagging compliant negative reviews, flagging the same review repeatedly, flagging content only in negative reviews, and bulk flagging.
Source: Action We Take, Trustpilot
Trustpilot can block a business account, place a Consumer Warning on the profile and stop its stars from showing in search results.
Source: For which reasons can businesses flag service reviews?, Trustpilot Help Center
Trustpilot says a business that flags negative reviews for personal information should also flag positive reviews for it.
Source: For which reasons can businesses flag service reviews?, Trustpilot Help Center
Each business's flagging record for the past 12 months is public, with the star ratings of the reviews it flagged.
Source: Transparent Flagging: see how a business is reporting its reviews, Trustpilot Help Center
Consumers who flag must not misuse the tool either. Trustpilot gives repeat flagging of one review as an example.
The rule, in Trustpilot's words
The Action We Take policy gives these examples of businesses misusing the flagging tool:
- Flagging negative reviews that do not breach the guidelines, in an effort to get them removed
- "Flagging the same review over and over again to try and get it removed."
- "Flagging content only when it appears in negative reviews"
- "Flagging reviews in bulk over a short period"
The flagging reasons page adds the instruction that goes with pattern 3: "Flag reviews consistently and fairly. If you flag negative reviews for containing personal information, you should also flag positive reviews for containing personal information."
Examples
These scenarios are ours. They show how each pattern starts.
| What the team did | Pattern | What a careful team does |
|---|---|---|
| Flagged twelve 1-star reviews on the Monday after a bad week | Bulk flagging, and compliant negatives | Reads each review against the five reasons first. Flags the two that break one, over two weeks |
| Flagged a review as "not genuine", lost, then flagged it as "harmful" | Repeat flagging | Records the decision. Appeals once, only with new facts |
| Flagged every 1-star review that named an agent, and none of the 5-star ones that did | Negative-only flagging | Searches all star ratings for the same breach |
| Let a new vendor "clear the backlog" from the business account in one day | Bulk flagging, on the business's record | Asks the vendor for its weekly pace in writing before giving access |
The penalties
Step 1
Educational email
Explains where the misuse took place and how to avoid it.
Step 2
Warning
Explains the misuse and asks the business to stop.
19K sent in 2024
Step 3
Cease-and-desist notice
The final notice before more severe action.
5K sent in 2024
Step 4
Account restrictions
For example, a temporary block on flagging reviews or editing the profile.
Step 5
Consumer Warning
A public notice. TrustScore hidden, paid plan ended, rating data no longer shared with search engines.
9K active in 2024
Step 6
Further action
Legal action, or information shared with regulators, law enforcement or the media.
Trustpilot says it may go straight to any step when misuse is serious. The penalty applies to the business profile, whoever sent the flags.
The same flagging reasons page names three consequences. Trustpilot can limit or block the business account. It can place a prominent Consumer Warning on the profile. And it can stop the business's stars from appearing in search results.
The public record
Trustpilot's Transparent Flagging feature shows anyone how a business has flagged over the past 12 months. It shows how often the business flags and what share of flags were invalid. It shows the star ratings of flagged reviews and how many were removed.
A record with many flags, all on 1-star reviews, most of them invalid, tells a reader exactly what happened.
How to stay inside the rule
| Pattern | The safe habit |
|---|---|
| Compliant negatives | Decide the rule and the words before flagging. No rule, no flag |
| Repeat flags | Record each decision. Appeal once if you have new facts |
| Negative-only | Search every star rating for the same breach |
| Bulk | A schedule measured in weeks, never one batch |
For health brands
The FTC described the same conduct from the regulator's side. In its case against the GLP-1 telehealth company NextMed, it said the company "suppressed negative reviews on Trustpilot by selectively challenging critical reviews". Pattern 3 in Trustpilot's list and that sentence describe one behavior.
Where to go next
Our guide to the misuse rules goes through detection and appeals, and the Consumer Warning guide covers recovery. The main Trustpilot review removal page explains how paced flagging works in practice.
This is the work behind our Trustpilot review removal service. You pay per removal, and the three packs and their prices are public.
Frequently asked questions
Trustpilot publishes no number. Its policy describes flagging in bulk over a short period and says that pattern suggests reviews are targeted for their sentiment. A few well-founded flags a week avoids it.
The business. Flags come from the business's account, and warnings, restrictions and a Consumer Warning all apply to that profile. So ask any vendor how it paces flags. Our page on how we flag and pace Trustpilot removals sets out our schedule.
Flagging the same review over and over is one of Trustpilot's examples of misuse. You can appeal a decision once. Source: appealing a decision.
Primary sources used on this page
- Action We Take. TrustpilotLast verified
- For which reasons can businesses flag service reviews?. Trustpilot Help CenterLast verified
- Transparent Flagging: see how a business is reporting its reviews. Trustpilot Help CenterLast verified
- FTC Takes Action Against Telemedicine Firm NextMed (July 14, 2025). Federal Trade CommissionLast verified
- Guidelines for Reviewers. TrustpilotLast verified
- How can I appeal a decision made by the Content Integrity Team?. Trustpilot Help CenterLast verified