If i try to report the profile as “Legal Issue”, it leads me to the page to fill in what exactly the issue is, and in the end, the page concludes that since it is not y photo or not a photo that I own the copyright to, I have no place to report it as legal issue.
That’s why I don’t know how to report such issue as someone whose legal rights is not violated here…
I agree with you, @FrankdeBeer , reporting a person for copyright infringement is not easy, and I had a similar experience about reporting copyrighted content.
However that report is more addressed to the contents submitted, more than the profile avatar.
However, as the profile avatar is the same used for all the Google products, I think it should be reported in the Google Account Help Community more than in Google Maps.
Regarding the reviews, you can report them one by one, or report in GMB the business that is using fake reviews
@FrankdeBeer you’ve already been given all the advice I could possibly provide by @MortenCopenhagen and @ErmesT , but I was wondering about your research: will the results be published anywhere? And will this happen any time soon? I’m asking because my experience is that Google especially tends to take action in such cases of abuse if there is high-exposure coverage in the media.
And by the way, if you are interested in getting in touch with Dutch speaking local guides, you can join this Facebook group.
I report many things like this, but there is no result. Actually, I wrote in the ideas section before. As here, there should be moderators in google maps and such things should be intervened immediately. Things are running a bit slow @FrankdeBeer
Unfortunately it is very difficult to report a business that is using reviews in an appropriate ways, because there is never a clear evidence (a sign that say 10% discount for a Five Star review) and for an algorithm is difficult to combine these data. That’s why I suggested to report them on the Google My Business community.
Of course, there is always a “Local Guides” side of the aspect, but most of the times this means a lot of fake accounts that are giving five stars to someone. Crossing the data require efforts and time.
Regarding the second issue (a Local Guide using a copyrighted photo in his profile) I wanted to address you to the Google Accounts community because this is not a violation of the Local guides Program, as the avatar is the one you use in Your Google Account, so it is up to them to check
EDIT: I forget to say that the Business Redressal Complaint Form has been designed to report issues in the business name, so most probably they will not take into consideration a report about other issues “If you come across misleading information or fraudulent activity on Google Maps related to the name, phone number, or URL of a business, you may use this form to submit a complaint”