Why Google deleted 100k reviews of Robinhood overnight

Overnight Google removed "at least" 100,000 negative reviews of the stock trading app Robinhood. After the app experienced massive blow-back from their decision-making process regarding GameStop and other volatile stocks this week, Robinhood's users took to the app stores. It's not immediately apparent what sort of moderation Apple's done with their App Store for iOS, but for Google Play, Google's confirmed that they've had to delete over a hundred thousand reviews in the very recent past.

This is not the first time this has happened. Google confirmed with Gizmodo that they did, indeed, delete said reviews as they do whenever their review rules are broken. Their rules against "coordinated or inorganic reviews" are certainly in play here – specifically the coordinated bit. The "inorganic" bit has to do mostly with the speed at which a set of reviews are registered.

If the Google Play app store's review system's main function is giving users a fair look at how well each app is received by users. As such, it's important that Google doesn't just dismiss the entirety of this event in reviews of said app. Especially when said app has to do with money, and the handling of money.

Last year it became evident that Robinhood had issues when trading was most lucrative. As it is with any service the relies on internet servers that cannot handle a sudden burst of traffic, Robinhood's creators need to learn from their mistakes, and reinforce their support structure. The same is true of their response to major events like this GameStop, Reddit, hype-pump situation.

Take a peek at the timeline below to see where we're at with Robinhood, Wall Street, and the massive kerfuffle that is the United States stock market in general. For now, play it safe and don't invest more than you can afford to lose.