I’ve reported some businesses for what’s obviously a breach of the rules that state you can’t offer a specific incentive in exchange for a 5 star review. However, no action was ever taken. Signs remain in-store, business has the same number of reviews as they did before - no action was taken.
I’m guessing an AI made a mistake in evaluating the report.
Mistakes happen.
Mistakes are also supposed to be fixable, and this is where things get frustrating.
So I feel like a sucker putting in THOUSANDS of hours of my volunteer helping maintain the integrity of Google Maps and have no way of bringing it to a humans’ attention. I can cross my fingers and hope that one of only 4 Connect Moderators sees this post AND has the ability to initiate a human review of the problem business. I’m not holding my breath.
Would it be too much to ask that once a Local Guide reaches a certain level (say, level 6) they can have access to a human in order to escalate or flag an error on Google’s part?
I reported such a case maybe 4-6 months ago. I attached screenshots from the email requesting 5 stars for a huge discount on further treatments. Within a few days I was informed they saw no problem. What! My conclusion was that they did not evaluate anything or more likely they did not care to translate the Danish text.
It would seem that lots of local guides are wasting a good many hours volunteering now.
Imagine these reports aren’t looked into. Edits it seems aren’t going through anymore. Adding of new places and editing of POIs aren’t getting approved for me anymore. Dunno where we’re heading really.
Hi @LocalK
When it happened to me, I wrote a post on the Google Business Profile Community
asking to be contacted for sharing information about a business that was soliciting 5 stars reviews in exchange of a discount.
I was contacted and I shared privately the information (in the community you should respect the privacy).
After a few weeks the listing was removed from Google Maps.
Have you tried to report them in there?
Welcome back to Connect! @MortenCopenhagen has flagged your post with @MoniDi so we’ll just wait and see what happens.
My 2¢.. Google Maps has such a volume of data that things have to be automated so, it’s unlikely that your idea will float, even if we restrict the ‘perk’ to Level 10 Local Guides.
Businesses who do incentives in exchange for 5-star reviews are only hurting themselves, in the long run. You can:
a) politely inform the owners that they are violating the policies; show them the policy if that helps.
b) write your own review that is honest and objective, and include a side note informing others that the business is inappropriately asking for 5-star reviews. It’s important to state it in a neutral manner without suggesting that any of the 5-star reviews could potentially be insincere. You will want to protect yourself from defamation.
Maybe that will discourage the businesses from doing so.
As for feeling frustrated, we feel you but don’t let it break you. Your thousand of hours on Maps is not wasted because a few businesses employ such poor practices or if Google is not responding the way you want them to.
I understand and appreciate your concerns. The time and effort that experienced Local Guides invest in helping maintain the quality and accuracy of Google Maps is truly valuable.
I agree that having a clearer escalation process for complex cases would be beneficial. In addition, I believe improving the AI system that reviews reports could also play an important role.
The system could become more effective by learning from confirmed cases, recognizing the contribution history of trusted Local Guides, identifying reports that remain unresolved for extended periods, and automatically directing unclear cases for additional review when needed.
A combination of smarter AI and an appropriate human review path could help reduce errors, increase transparency, and strengthen the trust of the Local Guides community while continuing to improve the quality of Google Maps.
I agree with @ErmesT this is not a Local Guides issue, this is a Google Business Profile issue. I support his suggestion that you report it there. It isn’t a Local Guides rule the business is violating, it is a Google Business Profile rule. Local Guides have no jurisdiction.
I agree with your points A and B, and that’s my usual go-to. Usually it works, but sometimes, the message/warning doesn’t make its way to the manager or decision maker.
I hear what you’re saying about ‘volume of data’, but nevertheless, it’s just not right.
**“Hey, I just finished cleaning your yard, your house, 3 dead racoons, 65 corrections and moved all your furniture”.
“Thanks man, I appreciate it. Here’s a pair of socks.”
