Be careful rating businesses in Germany

Google Maps contribution stories
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I’ve been receiving notifications from Google, German business owners and lawyers accusing me of different things and threatening me with court for years now.

A restaurant owner, who received three stars and blaming me for unfairly “bad” rating. (might I remind here three stars translates into “it’s okay”, and not bad…)

Another restaurant owner, threatening me with layers cause I’ve wrote in my review, that the meat was dry…

A small grocery store owner, lawyering up against me for a neutral review, claiming it was fake as they cannot identify me as a customer (though I’ve uploaded photos of the store and my purchases there).

Its all makes me so sad…

Any many many others.

Till today - another email notifications, another lawyers threats, caus I’ve written years ago, that the waffles were small and nothing special, but the coffee was good.

Only this time I am accused of defamation and Google Maps blocked my account :sob:

I cannot figure it out, how that can even happen. I am a local guide with over 40k contributions, over 1k reviews, have been participating in the program basically since its beginning, was invited and took part in the Local Guides Summit 2017…

How can it be, that the algorithm doesn’t recognize systematic removal of reviews on particular places? And punishes me for sharing my always!!! respectful experiences???

I did claim the unfairness of all these accusations in the past and have never seen any result. So now too, I have no hope my profile will be restored…

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hello @KseniaM welcome back! hopefully the problems you have regarding the ratings and reviews you have given will be resolved soon. including what happened to your account

I am curious, do you tend to give ratings of 3 stars or below, and are happy to see something from its shortcomings, so that business owners often complain?

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Hi @KseniaM If you upload a photo of the store, that is proof that you have visited the store. If your comments violate Google’s policies, they will still be removed by Google.

I was removed from local guiding and re-inserted into the local guiding program because I was reported hundreds of times on Google for my comments. İt is unlikely that your account will be banned. Are you saying that you can’t leave any comments?

In my 2 years as a local guide, I edited and re-posted every comment that Google removed. If anyone would be permanently banned for this, it would be me. I have been contacted many times by the factory owner, factory lawyer and human resources specialist, but I do not delete my comments.

There were even lawyers who said they would file a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, but nothing came of it because the workplace was committing a crime under the Labor Law. Don’t worry too much.

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@KseniaM this is the first time I’ve heard that bad reviews can lead to account suspension. That doesn’t make sense, because negative reviews also help improve things and make a place more authentic.

It’s rare, but I’ve given bad reviews before and never received any complaints.

It seems excessive to me that you’re being targeted because of a bad waffles.

If it’s just because of bad reviews, I hope you’ll be able to access your account again.

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There are companies in Germany and I. Switzerland, which specialise on making sure your business shines on Google Maps. They trigger deletion of real reviews via claiming policy violation and from my experience Google is always on their side. They lawyer up and there were many cases which managed to the court.

The thing isy reviews are not even bad: 3 to 4 stars, but still not good enough to have a 100% fake 5 stars rating…

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Wow you are a legend :slight_smile: I don’t think I have a breath for that. It is very demotivating to work against organised system, even knowing that you are doing good and right.

I cannot contribute anything - no reviews, no stars, no photos, nothing.

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Thanks!

I usually leave 4 to 5 stars reviews. From more than 1k reviews that I’ve left over the past 9 years, there is hand full ones with 1 star rating (and they never complained!).

All trouble reviews are 3 to 4 stars, so accusing me of a "bad " review I don’t even know how Google dares it!..

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I have over 1,300 reviews and have never had a report, even with ratings of one or two stars.

I can understand that the battle for natural referencing will push companies to fake reviews, but in general, the establishments I visit in Switzerland correspond to the reviews on the listings (positive or negative).

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Google does not provide feedback on removed reviews outside of Europe. I have always found removed reviews myself. Your profile still shows the local guide badge. If you are seeking assistance from the authorities here, I suggest you make your profile public.

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@christophesubilia and @KseniaM In Germany a local law provides that a business that is the victim of a (supposedly) defamatory review can sue the platform that hosts the review (Google in this case).

See this comment by @ErmesT for more information and experiences of other local guides in the same thread.

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It is a fact that business owners buy reviews to get high ratings. There are local guides who give reviews in exchange for money. A lawyer in my country asked me to post a fake review for his business. I have seen many businesses like this. There are even local guide groups that give fake reviews. One business owner told me that he has 5 local guide accounts that he reviews.

According to Google Policies, it is a policy violation for a person to have multiple local guide accounts or to have a fake review in exchange for a review. I agree with the part where Google is inconsistent in removing unbiased reviews.

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I remember I was also contacted by a business owner that I gave 4 stars. He said it made his rating bad. It should be a perfect 5 stars. He said I killed his business. I then explained that 4 stars is good. 5 stars is perfect without flaws. I showed that they do not have adequate parking so visitors have difficulty parking their vehicles. Then they do not provide toilets. So those are the shortcomings that must be fixed if they want a perfect 5 stars from me. But no one has sued in court.

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Thank you for having clarifying that @WilfriedB

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Hi @KseniaM , Long time I don’t see you around :hugs:
I am very sorry for your bad experience, which is unfortunately very common in Germany due to a local law that German companies increasingly abuse.
Please check the link shared by @WilfriedB (thanks :folded_hands:)

I will try to escalate this situation internally, to see if Google can investigate and build a different approach, but it will not be easy because the Local Laws always have the priority.

Just for a smile: do you remember this?

image
image1300×975 77.8 KB

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Hi @KseniaM have you tried reaching out directly to Google support or the Local Guides team for assistance or appeal options? Sometimes personalized help can make a difference.

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Hi everyone!
According to me those stars for our reviews could be related as this:
1 star : very bad
2 stars: bad (simply)
3 stars: acceptable, average
4 stars: good, appreciable ( I’ll come again at any cost or recommended it)
5 stars: the best ever, well done and as stated with all the stuff rating ( toilet, parking, decorations, all meaningful things and accessories)

So at this point for me it’s rare to found those 5 stars ratting
And I’m asking myself if these ratting meaning and details are know by those owners and layers!?

it’s like getting up on morning and decided to claim your rights without asking yourself if your duties are perfectly done or not )…it Pity to hear things like this ! But as said, following the Google map’s policies we should make our reviews exactly the way we feel about all ( stuff assistances , the welcoming, the place design…) and then. It like invite the owner to recheck that point which is maybe unacceptable… Indeed we are a guide, we are like advice giver, idea provider..

Brief I think it’s due Also to the area and it’s lays as stated Mr @ErmesT ..
Thanks

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I don’t think the privacy of my profile makes any difference neither I think anyone can assist the issue. It is what it is and there is huge industry in Germany polishing businesses on Maps.

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thanks for the link to the comment. On one hand I understand the necessity of such laws. On the other hand removing reviews blindly each time when someone claims defamatory should not be the way to deal with the topic…

e.g. some businesses reach out to me and ask to remove very old reviews, cause they are just too old and dont reflect the current reality - I totally get that argument and usually happy to delete it. But all that legal staff is just so much overdoing…

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the thing is, there are companies with a lot of fake account on stock, and are ready to review whatever business is paying them. Knowing that, I am just much more careful about trusting the rating on Maps than I was years back. But punishing established local guides just kills the vibe…

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Exactly. Personally I dont see neither 3 (average) nor 4 (good) stars reviews as bad. But businesses are absolutely focused on having 5 stars only. Let’s wait another couple of years and all restaurants in Germany will be rated solely with 5 stars…

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