March 23 (Reuters) - Italy's competition regulator has fined online review platform Trustpilot and its units 4 million euros ($4.6 million) for failing to adequately verify the authenticity of reviews and for misleading consumers about how their services work.
Shares fell 2.5% in early trade.
The fine, imposed on Monday, comes months after short seller Grizzly Research accused Trustpilot of creating fake profiles that gave negative reviews and then pressuring companies to pay for subscriptions - allegations which the company rejected.
The Italian Competition Authority said Trustpilot's review collection services allowed businesses to handpick which consumers received review invitations, undermining the representativeness of published ratings even when reviews were labelled as "verified" by the platform.
The watchdog also found that Trustpilot used interface design techniques typical of "dark patterns" to obscure key information about its platform's functioning and which businesses paid for services, in breach of Italy's consumer code.
Trustpilot did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Monday.
($1 = 0.8670 euros)
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
