The other day I went to a shop, enjoyed an excellent service, and gave a 5-star rating once outside. So far, all is normal. But a few hours later I receive an e-mail “your rating is not posted” with the following explanation: “Google’s moderation systems and processes identified content that may be fake engagement”.
Did it happen to other people here, does anyone know how is this possible, and how can I get Google Maps to reconsider this decision? I don’t mind much about my 5-star rating, but as an honest and long-time contributor to Google Maps, I find this accusation unfair and frankly insulting. Thank you!
Hi @dragice , In fact I can see that you have two hidden reviews
Please do not take it personally. As explained in Maps user-generated content policy “Our machine-learning algorithms scan contributions to detect policy-violating content, and scan for signals of suspicious user activity. The policy-violating content is either removed by our automated models or flagged for further review by trained operators and analysts who conduct content evaluations that might be difficult for algorithms to perform alone”.
This includes a lot of false positive results. For this reason Google Maps provided this Google Form to share your profile with them and let them know which contributions don’t appear on Maps.
In this way your reviews will be checked again by trained operators and analysts. Everything that is not violating the rules will be released.
Please keep in mind that the check may take a few weeks
Thank you very much for your response. Is there a way I can see myself which of my reviews are hidden?
I’ve already filled the Google Form you sent but wasn’t hoping for much. Indeed, I just received an e-mail saying “Based on the information provided, we are happy to confirm that there are no penalties against your account.” Thanks but my review is still hidden, and I see no admission that they made a mistake and no apologogies whatsoever.
I understand that algorithms are imperfect and that automatic classification is hard (I’m a computer scientist), but in my case this decision is clearly the result of a flaw. I rated a store just after going there (and I used google maps to get there, so they have the data), and I’m writing reviews only very occasionally. How can I be doing fake engagement? Not to mention my past track record, which at least from my perspective should have given very little credence to this accusation. You mention that decisions can be double-checked humans. But in my case, I can’t see how there could have been a competent human involved.
Sorry this is nothing against you and I really appreciate you took the time to answer, but I can’t say I’m satisfied by the answer. This is a really rude way of treating users who spend time and effort contributing and I’m less and less happy being a local guide on Google Maps.
I shared some tips on identifying which reviews got hidden here. But it is not super easy.
Don’t expect Google to apologize. I haven’t seen that so far except the fact that they now offer a form to fill out should you think your contributions were wrongfully removed.
Hi @dragice , this is interesting. Did you filled this Google Form or another one? I am asking because I never received an email after filling the form, but my reviews were back after a couple of weeks. A far as I know a check may take Longer time and Google do not respond.
Two of my reviews are hidden too in this very moment, but I am not so worried, I am sure the reviews will be released. In my case I think the reason is a wave of reviews written in some place by many users after a meet-up . This action, independently of the content of the reviews, may have triggered an alarm.
I see that @MortenCopenhagen is providing already some tip to you about how to search for your hidden reviews
I posted another review yesterday, this time with text content. I did it soon after ordering food at a take-out restaurant, not far from where I live. And today I got the same email saying my review hasn’t been posted due to fake engagement. I’ve only posted two reviews since last time (apparently not blocked). But it looks like many of my reviews get blocked now.
I filled the formed again and hope someone will seriously look at this issue, though I’m not super optimistic. I used the link you sent @ErmesT (not sure that’s the one I used last time, but I do think so). I wish there was a text field where I could provide more details and ask how come I often get blocked.
I’m a Local Guide Level 6 and now I’m scared to post anything. My only option is to stop contributing entirely.
I have exactly this same issue. On a short break in Dieppe from the UK, and posted two reviews about a car park and a bar. Both were wrongly rejected as ‘Fake Engagement’. Might Google suspect that I’m not in France ?
Travelled to Paris in December. All of my reviews are being filtered as fake engagement. I even filled out a form and had an email from Local Guides Appeal saying that my account does not have any restrictions (although my reviews are still not posted).
Yesterday I got a prompt from Google Maps asking me to provide a review for a place I visited. I did and got another “fake engagement” email. If Google Maps KNOWS I was there, then why is it “fake engagement”?
Update: no improvement despite having used the form multiple times. it looks like I can’t post any review anymore, without it being flagged as fake engagement. I just posted a review of a playground I regularly visit right next to where I live. It has been immediately flagged. See screenshot. And yet I have Google geolocation tracking on. This is insane.
I have the same problem, almost all my reviews which are legit with photos of my visit to the logcation and photos of the services in some cases and full account of how the business services were for me, are now hidden under justification of “fake engagement”
Yes, it happened to me quite a few times. In fact they even blocked the 1000 plus reviews I had uploaded for some kind of weird policies guidelines that I did not respect. I guess they just want bland reviews that say nothing .
Recently it’s the pictures I posted , with some dating 3 years back that are “not posted” . That’s funny because for 3 years they gathered views in the millions and suddenly it’s not respecting guidelines. I’ll stop posikt if that weird shit continues.
