How to flag Fake Reviews

Google Maps tips & tricks
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Hi there,

I am a local guide because I care. One thing that really bugs me is when I come across businesses that very likely have bought positive fake reviews. A good indication is when the majority of their reviews comes from people with just a single review. Often these reviews also read a lot like Marketing jargon. Obviously, flagging those reviews on an individual basis does not make any sense - each of them stand alone might be OK. But the sheer number of such reviews in a single business account provides conclusive evidence.

Please let me know,

Norman

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Just to give a real life example. Look at this business: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Adler+Reparaturservice+Berlin/@52.5459899,13.2460981,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47a8568c807b8479:0x2cbfa0e1c3c74476!8m2!3d52.5459739!4d13.2481663

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Hi @Normsreviewing

Thanks for sharing this. I think we need help from a moderator like @MortenSI with this.

Cheers

1 Like
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Hi @Normsreviewing thank you for reaching out. We are happy to see that you working against fake reviews and those spamming Google Maps. Here is a link that you can use to report such reviews in future How and when to report reviews on Google Maps and when ever you feel like you need to report it directly here and especially if you have many reviews from the same location, just reach out to us as you did now.

A Googler will respond to you to assist, I can not tag another Googler as @MortenCopenhagen has already tagged one. Cheers!

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Thanks, but like I mentioned and shown in my example: each individual review reads completely in line with the standards and innocuous. However, looking at the overall picture - it becomes very clear that something is wrong with those positive reviews received by the business.

BTW I even called out the owner on this - and he smiled at me with a very telling smile. Then he said how I could know. And when I gave him my conclusion based on the fact that most of his positive reviewers had given only one response ever - which is very strange given the business is a plumber… he sort of admitted it. - Which kind of upsets me - because the negative reviews for this company actually make a very strong case to avoid this business.

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Thanks for reaching out @Normsreviewing , and thank you @MortenCopenhagen for tagging me here.

Even though there are strong suggestions in a case like this, there’s really no way to know for sure if these reviews are of actual visitors or not. However, if you have a certain Local Guide that you think is violating our policies, you can tag a moderator in How to identify and report fraud on Google Maps and we will reach out to you in private.

This article is also handy if you find a fraudulent business on Google Maps.

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