How Google Weeds Out Fake or Abusive Reviews Left for Local Businesses on Google Maps
Any small business owner who puts in the work to make great customer experiences and benefits from 5-star reviews on Google knows how frustrating it is when a fake or abusive 1-star review is left. Business owners often feel overwhelmed with how to get rid of these fake reviews that bring their rating down. For its part, Google says they follow a series of steps that allow them to review user generated reviews in a few seconds.
Google shared five steps it takes to ensure that Google Maps reviews are useful and authentic:
Step 1: Strict content policies that “…make sure reviews are based on real-world experiences and to keep irrelevant and offensive comments off of Google Business Profiles.”
Step 2: Content policy is integrated into Google’s algorithms by turning the policy into training data.
Step 3: Reviews are moderated by Google as soon as they are posted, using a mixture of human and machine review systems.
Step 4: Google invites community moderation by encouraging businesses and the public to report fake reviews.
Step 5: Google is proactive about anticipating fake reviews that stem from events that could lead to abusive reviews by providing heightened monitoring of reviews of businesses that could be affected by those events.
