This can definitely be the problem. I've seen studies where 50% of funding came from university and 50% from a private company. University required study to be published in their database, company wants the end result and don't want media to know what they are working with. So the report is obfuscated just enough to be legible for publication without giving away too much data from the company.
Especially for final masters degree projects this is very common as the students don't get paid by the university at all, so many try to find a company to sponsor. But the students still need the uni to publish the report for them to get their final degree so you get this conflict of interest again. Most of these reports are just written with the end goal of getting a degree, not of creating solid research, this really needs the stricter universities not letting through all that crap, for now they shouldn't really be trusted the same way as proper research papers.
Especially for final masters degree projects this is very common as the students don't get paid by the university at all, so many try to find a company to sponsor. But the students still need the uni to publish the report for them to get their final degree so you get this conflict of interest again. Most of these reports are just written with the end goal of getting a degree, not of creating solid research, this really needs the stricter universities not letting through all that crap, for now they shouldn't really be trusted the same way as proper research papers.