Google Maps is cracking down on fake reviews

Google Maps is reeling successful concern pages engaging successful fake reviews, and highlighting specified enactment to its users. Google volition present impose restrictions against concern profiles that interruption the hunt giant’s Fake Engagement policy, specified arsenic temporarily removing reviews, blocking caller reviews oregon ratings, and displaying a informing connection connected profiles that person had fake reviews deleted.

The concern illustration restrictions were introduced successful the UK earlier this year, but Search Engine Roundtable notes that the enactment leafage was updated successful mid-September to seemingly use globally. For the moment, however, lone users successful the UK are seeing the concern warnings, specified arsenic the example posted to X by Mike Blumenthal.

Google’s prohibited and restricted contented policy says that contributions to Maps “should bespeak a genuine acquisition astatine a spot oregon business.” Business pages are not permitted to show contented that doesn’t “accurately correspond the determination oregon merchandise successful question,” oregon has been incentivized by giving reviewers payment, discounts, oregon freebies. Google Maps volition besides look for reviews that effort to manipulate ratings by posting from aggregate accounts, oregon utilize emulators, modified operating systems, oregon different methods that “mimic genuine engagement.”

It’s unclear however Google volition accurately find which reviews interruption these rules, but the menace of being publically shamed whitethorn beryllium capable to deter immoderate businesses from trying to artificially inflate their ratings. The informing connection tin besides assistance users debar visiting places Google deems untrustworthy, alternatively of suspicious reviews simply vanishing without explanation.