Hi @sharadsud , @sharat , welcome to Connect and thank you for asking.
Obviously no, we are not wasting time in writing reviews, however we will have to consider the Global situation.
According to the recently shared numbers, more than 500 millions people are contributing in Google Maps
In several countries there are laws against reviews that can damage consumers and businesses. For this reason all the platform that are hosting reviews (not only Google) had to develop automated systems to take down reviews that may be considered not following the guidelines.
The filter will never tell you âexactlyâ why a review was taken down. The reason is that the information may help âfalse reviewersâ to improve their knowledge about bypassing the filters. What Google offers is the possibility to appeal for the an operator to reinstate the reviews if they considered that the reviews were wrongly removed.
A review is a post where the text and (if any) the attached media are analyzed together. If one of the element is found (maybe by mistake) inappropriate, the whole content will be made private (visible only to you. It means that we should check both text and photos. In ,your case, @sharadsud , a very common violation is âredundancyâ (very similar photos) and duplicates (same photo posted more than once). Both are considered an inappropriate behavior, because this practice dilutes the information about a listing in Google Maps. I cannot comment about @sharat because his profile is âprivateâ.
How to fix the issue:
The first step is to identify the hidden reviews. You can do it by opening this link in a web browser in âincognito modeâ and comparing the reviews with the ones that you see in your profile in the app, when you are logged in.
Once you know which reviews are hidden, you can try at first to remove the attached media. If the issue is in there, the review will be immediately published. After that you can add the media back, to identify the ones that are causing the block. Please be aware that a review with media attached may takes several hours to be published.
If this method doesnât work for all the reviews, now you can appeal. Use this form: Account investigation for contributions not visible on Google Maps for the team to check your reviews . Please be aware that the check may take up to two months. Everything that is found to adhering Googleâs Policies will be republished
Once you know which reviews are hidden, you can try at first to remove the attached media. If the issue is in there, the review will be immediately published. After that you can add the media back, to identify the ones that are causing the block. Please be aware that a review with media attached may takes several hours to be published.
If we remove media from multiple reviews that were not published, the maps thinks we posted a new review as it shows posted just a minute ago. Wouldnât the profile be marked as spam? If we delete all the reviews that were not published and post a fresh review, will the fresh reviews posted be published automatically?
No, editing a review is a legitimate procedure, @wandering , also suggested by Google Maps to fix the reviews that are not posted .
Yes, in fact the edited review will appear as new.
Thatâs why, if you appeal for the team to check the reviews, you donât have to edit the reviews after the appeal
You are welcome @ErmesT . I had to tag you because i believe you have a great knowledge about this as a Connect Moderator. I tried my best to assist them in the best way i could. Glad i could help them to an extent.
I tried the steps above and it still did not get published. I went a step ahead by identifying all the reviews that were not published and deleted them. I lost a few points may be, but what do i do with the points if my reviews are not getting published? Then I posted a fresh review of the latest place I visited and that also did not get published. I filled the appeal form describing all of the above and got a reply that there is no problem with my local guide connect account and I can happily post in the community.
I think either the appeal form given to me was incorrect or the team did not understand my problem. I have problem publishing on Google maps not the community forums.
You will not receive any reply. The team will check your reviews/photos and will release everything that is not against the rules. The check in my case took a couple of months, so please be patient. All my reviews were then released
The comment I sent in the last 2 days has been removed from the air exactly three times. I am a 7 level local guide for about 2 years. Iâve been through this situation many times, but itâs such a strange situation. I have edited and published the comment 3 times. There is a problem in the mind of those who say fill out the form here. Should I fill out a form for each comment?
As i mentioned earlier, Google is a black hole.
Their own product team has 0 clue on how to handle this platform.
Either you wait indefinitely or there is never a concrete answer.
Iâm seeing this on Google My Business as well.
This is a global organisation that never tells you exactly what the error is, and expects you to find out from a million policies with grey areas.
Hereâs my suggestion ( please understand I work with people in 20+ countries on OTAs and travel algorithms, and I honestly havenât found a more painful platform than Google.
I would rate it in the bottom 2.
If you donât want to waste your time:
Never put a photo in a reviewâŚadd it separately
Write 4 words in your review " nice place and great experience".
Most likely it will be accepted.
Google has no clue on how to detect spam/fraud reviews from fake profiles, but will remove reviews from local guides.
Donât ever send a message in Help & Support.
The have no clue and keep contradicting themselves and send you template replies where 90% of the time you have to figure it out yourselves.
The only time I see Support solving and issue is when the issue can be solved by a fresher.
There is a reason why I have titled this post as " are we wasting time".
Iâm convinced we are, and Iâm at level 8.
Iâm not Even sure how many photos / reviews have been removed without my knowledge.
I would have been a god on Tripadvisor if I would have invested my time in that platform
There is no benefit in gathering points on Google maps.
It only benefits google.
Till date I havenât seen 1 piece of evidence where a google guide has been shown any benefit or perk from Google.
Only ego boosting milestones
