Despite @MortenCopenhagen reporting to the Google team about local guides who comment for money and violate Google Policies, they are still active.
I hope the necessary sanctions are implemented. As I said when I opened the topic, permanent measures need to be taken against such people.
In order to control such people, you need to increase the requirement to be a local guide to at least level 6. You cannot fight 150 million local guides one by one.
Believe me, there are many local guides in Türkiye who comment for money and make mutual comments. These people have a WhatsApp group and they act together on many platforms including Facebook.
Even if you take action, I have clearly conveyed the issue to the center. If you say that you will find a clear solution, I will expose these people.
That’s honorable and eternally ambitious – there are billions of businesses doing that. Some put signs instore, others pay strangers online to post a hundred fake reviews.
You and I aren’t being rewarded for our genuine efforts and opinions, but for many it’s part of everyday business, and the system needs an overhaul to prevent it, or it will end up like Amazon and other sites where most of the reviews are meaningless paid copypasta. There are online groups that you are aware of, but close one and another dozen open somewhere else, they are already in every country so one individual can do next to nothing about it - the change and enforcement has to come from the $2,000,000,000,000+ ($2Tn) Google Alphabet company.
Fixing the review system requires a multi-layered approach. Here’s a combination of solutions that could work:
Reward Genuine Reviews More Effectively
Introduce better incentives for authentic reviewers, such as discounts, exclusive perks, or even revenue-sharing models, instead of the insulting, worthless badges or socks that any child would scoff at.
Improve the points system, ensuring that well-crafted, concise contributions aren’t overshadowed by mass uploads of low-quality content.
Strengthen AI Moderation
Use AI to detect copy-pasted reviews, repetitive phrasing, and suspiciously high activity from certain accounts.
Implement IP tracking and behavioral analysis to flag paid-review farms and prevent abuse.
Introduce verification layers, such as requiring proof of purchase or experience before allowing reviews.
Tighten Platform Policies
Increase the entry barrier for Local Guides (e.g., requiring Level 6 before reviewing businesses).
Make violations stricter, such as banning users who engage in fraudulent reviewing.
Crack Down on Paid Review Networks
Investigate platforms like WhatsApp groups, Mechanical Turk, and similar gig-work sites where businesses manipulate ratings.
Work with law enforcement or regulatory bodies to curb widespread abuse.
Improve Community Oversight
Give trusted reviewers more power to moderate content.
Implement a review appeal system, allowing businesses and users to challenge suspicious reviews.
None of these measures alone can solve the problem, but together they could drastically reduce fake reviews while giving genuine contributors the recognition they deserve.
If they give me the authority, I can clean up most of these. I have no expectations. Among the local guides I mentioned are the local guides who write here.
Although disclosing personal information in public spaces is prohibited, I strongly agree that the practice of giving reviews for payment is unacceptable, as it can obscure the information needed by potential customers who need honest reviews
and those who join Local Guides Connect should not engage in such deviant practices
What? Would you care to elaborate on how the almost millennia-old Knights Templar are connected to fake reviews on Google – somehow that seems uber-trivial for an ancient group broadly connected with Freemasonry and numerous occult secret societies believed to practice Baphomet worship and child sacrifice.
I mentioned that I exposed the Knights Templar. After I started exposing the Knights Templar, they threatened me and they are still active. One of them is Duncan L. Niederauer, former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Another is a professor at Harvard University in the US and another is a senior Cardinal in the Vatican Church in Rome.
They hold critical positions worldwide as prime ministers, ministers, generals, professors, cardinals, ambassadors, judges and CEOs. They are also active in Türkiye. They are especially strong in the United Nations, the European Union and world politics.
Most of the money given to private hospitals goes to the Knights Templar. In Turkey, the logo of the Ministry of Health is the figure of Baphomet. This figure was changed under the previous health minister, Fahrettin Koca, who owned private hospitals in Turkey. From the award frames in private hospitals, to the ambulances, to the clothes of health workers and health certificates, it is the Baphomet figure. I will not go into further detail about the Baphomet figure.
I will send you regular proofs of exposing local guides to your email. I joined and communicated with WhatsApp and Telegram groups of local guides who provided commentary services in exchange for money or mutual comments. I will remove the comments I make in the future. I will do my best, rest assured.
There is an option to answer simple yes/no questions on Google Maps. In this section, you get one point for each question you answer. You should remove the scoring system to prevent paid local guides who reach level 7-8 without contributing much.
You can add a location requirement for commenting. I know it’s hard, but you should do it. You can add a level 6 requirement for the local guide badge. You shouldn’t allow more than 3 comments per day. There are thousands of local guides in Türkiye who provide commentary for money. This will be a long process.
I am adding a post from a local guide in a paid review group: “Hello. My team and I review businesses abroad, especially those in Germany. We do this very well and our deleted reviews are approved within 48 hours. We have a 100% success rate. We have a lot of power. If anyone wants to review abroad, please contact me.”
Even here, there are local guides who do this. Millions of tourists, especially from Europe, come to Türkiye and they are clearly misleading these people.
I have emailed you with evidence of local guides at many levels who have reviewed in exchange for money or reviews. I will continue to contact you regarding those who violate Google Policies. I have removed two reviews that I made during this process because I have a policy of not publishing fake reviews. I never write paid reviews. I always respect Google. Best regards.