Robinhood Is Down To 1 Star On Google’s Mobile App Store Again, This Time Google Won’t Intervene

Topline

Online stock trading platform Robinhood has seen its review score on Google’s mobile app store plummet to a one-star rating out of five for the second time in less than a week, as irate users flooded the app with negative reviews in retaliation to its decision to curb the trading of several popular but volatile meme stocks like GameStop and AMC last week, highlighting how anger over the incident still persists among online traders.

Key Facts

Key Background

Last week, Google cracked down on ‘review bombing’ of the Robinhood app, deleting around 125,000 negative reviews which it deemed  “coordinated or inorganic reviews.” The company did not respond to requests for comment from Forbes on how it deemed a review as inorganic. The review bombing was part of a larger backlash against Robinhood and Wall Street after many stock trading apps either suspended or severely restricted the trade of Gamestop, AMC and several other so-called meme stocks that saw an unprecedented social media-backed rally. Since then, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has defended the decision in an interview with Elon Musk on the social media app Clubhouse. Tenev said that the company was forced to act after being asked by the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) to put up $3 billion in collateral to continue trading in the volatile stocks. This demand was later slashed to $700 million, allowing Robinhood to reopen limited trading of the stocks.

Tangent

Google’s venture capital arm GV invested an undisclosed amount in Robinhood in an early seed funding round in 2013 that saw the stock trading platform raise $3 million.

Further Reading

Stock Frenzy Fallout: Google Cracks Down On Robinhood ‘Review-Bombing’, Facebook Bans Popular Trading Group (Forbes)

Robinhood CEO Dismisses Elon Musk’s ‘Conspiracy Theories’ About GameStop Trade Limits (Forbes)