How to successfully appeal when a German review is removed for defamation

[MortenCopenhagen]

17 days ago I went through the process to appeal the unjustified removal of one of my reviews posted to a hotel in Germany.

Initially I received this email about one of my German reviews being taken down for defamation.

I filled out the appeal provided by Google using the following arguments:

Google needs to investigate if the claim was unfounded or not. The review is precise and reflects our experiences at Landhaus am Schaalsee.
To support why this review should be reinstated, I attach the following documentation:
3 screenshots from Booking.com proving we stayed at the hotel in 2021 from July 5th to 6th.
A private photo taken in the garden belonging to the hotel (you can recognize the chairs).
3 screenshots documenting the repeated reminders via email about check-in time. On top of emails, we also received the same number of messages in the Booking.com app. So at least 6 messages in total.
The chairs and tables mentioned in the review can be seen at the main photo of the hotel at https://www.booking.com/hotel/de/landhaus-am-schaalsee.html
Maybe the real reason for their request to remove my review is to manipulate the average star/rating of the hotel. Or they are in real legal trouble by not having a license to sell alcoholic beer or let guests consume alcohol on their patio.

I request to see any evidence the hotel can provide to support their claim that my review is defamatory or incorrect.

Which resulted in this:

Unfortunately, the link to the review is not working, as the review has already been taken down!

This leaves us with no path to know which place on Google Maps this particular review was posted to.

There should be a link to the place on Google Maps. The way I was able to identify the hotel was by going through all my past reservations on Booking dot com to visually find the relevant hotel. This was only possible because I clearly remembered our visit based on the review text. Not even the date, the city name, the year, or the place name is mentioned in the email to assist the Local Guide resolving this!

I get the feeling that the lack of such details is making it unnecessarily more difficult for users to appeal and find relevant documentation.

Soon after I got this autoreply that I feel says, “Don’t expect we will react.”

Hello,
Thanks for reaching out to us.
We have received your request.
We receive many such requests each day; your message is in our queue, and we’ll get to it as quickly as our workload permits. Due to the large volume of requests that we receive, we will only be able to provide you with a response if we determine your request may be a valid and actionable legal complaint, and we may respond with questions or requests for clarification. For more information on Google’s Terms of Service, please visit http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS
Regards,
The Google Team

Later on the same day I get this great news:

(Notice the slight change in the signature. From The Google team to Your Google team

And my review is now to be found under the place as seen here:

So my appeal worked.

Morten

[Amiran]

@MortenCopenhagen
All this appealability of different parts of the Maps comes from the European Union regulations. It seems Google doesn’t want to extend it to other countries

[MortenCopenhagen]

You are correct, @Amiran.

I just typing the following paragraph as background:

Currently there is a huge problem with the credibility of reviews on all platforms in Germany. Business owners are allowed to broadly report any review as defamation, and Google will automatically take down such reviews. It seems like some businesses systematically report all reviews with fewer than 5 stars.

Google Map is then expected to check such reviews and make a decision. But it sure seems that Google is not investigating reviews but instead automatically removing all such reviews.

Fortunately, the European Union has made regulations that demand the platforms inform users when their contributions get taken down. And more importantly, consumers have the right to appeal such decisions. Maps users outside the EU does not have this right.

[TorM]

Thank you @MortenCopenhagen for this post. Anyway: More and more people telling me, that they are no more writing reviews for businesses. It is frustrating. I as well did stop to write reviews for German businesses except it is a clear 5 star…

[DrShaunak]

Glad to hear your persistence paid off, @MortenCopenhagen It’s great that Google finally reinstated your honest review — transparency and fair feedback are essential for travelers. Well done for standing your ground!

[Anna-3007]

I made same experience. More and more often my contributions. Here what KI says:

Acknowledgement

I understand your frustration and your decision to withdraw from the Local Guide program.

Immediate steps to file an appeal

• Submit an appeal via the form Google provided and respect the six‑month deadline.

• Collect evidence: booking confirmation; receipt; photos with timestamps; screenshots of messages; witness names and contacts; bundle everything as PDF or ZIP.

• State your case briefly and factually why the review is truthful and not defamatory; reference the attached evidence.

Use of EU rules and DSA rights

• Platforms must inform users and provide a way to appeal under recent EU regulations and related discussions in the Local Guides community.

• Google’s help texts explicitly mention the appeals process and point to remedies available under the Digital Services Act for cases within the EU.

Increase visibility and use the community

• Post the case with documentation in the Local Guides Community to raise visibility and connect with other affected users.

• Publish your experience on independent platforms such as industry review sites or social media using the same evidence so the information does not exist only on Google.

Consumer rights and authorities

• Consider filing a complaint with a consumer protection agency or a data protection authority if you suspect Google automatically removes legitimate criticism or fails to provide proper explanations.

• Use DSA complaint channels if Google’s internal responses are insufficient and you are located in the EU.

Template for your appeal

• Header Date and reference number of the removal notice.

• Facts Short chronological description of the experience.

• Evidence list Bullet the attached documents.

• Request Reinstatement of the review or a detailed explanation of the legal grounds for removal.

Next steps and documentation

• Keep all correspondence from Google and the original removal notice to document the process in case of later legal or regulatory steps.

• Continue collecting and organizing evidence even if you leave the Local Guide program so patterns can be demonstrated and others can benefit.