Please, can anyone help me understand why many of my reviews are visible only to me? I don’t believe I broke any rules (not willingly, at least). How could I check the reason for that?
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Hello @alyaksander welcome to the Local Guides Connect community.
For all reviews and uploaded media, a filter checks not only checks for violations of the rules (I like your “not willingly, at least” - many others forget this point), but also to protect against SPAM and - more importantly - against false information. This is just guesswork and the can be many false positives, because when in doubt the post will refused, i.e. hidden to the public and unless you submit an appeal, there is no human operator involved (as of our knowledge).
Furthermore, if photos or videos are attached to review and only one of those media is refused, the entire review including all media will be hidden. So, the first step trying to fix this situation would be to remove the media and see of text-only is published and if so, add the photos again one by one. Videos is yet a bit different, since the approval can take more than a day.
Not at all! The reason is, if Google would reveal what exactly they found, it would make the “work” for spammers easier.
I suggest this series articles for some more hints: How to Get In and Out of Trouble: The Main post
One more thing:
If you want some help from other local guides in this forum, it would be helpful if you set your profile public, so we can see what you did post and how many of your posts are hidden.
Hope, this helps.
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Hello @WilfriedB.
I’ve just unhid my profile, as you’ve suggested.
I very rarely post reviews with pictures. My hidden reviews are text-only.
I will check the article you’ve mentioned.
Thank you.
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Thanks for making your profile public @alyaksander
Indeed out of your 438 reviews and 247 ratings, only 41 are public:
The small number of public review sounds like some systematic problem.
@ErmesT maybe you can provide some more guidance?
Hey @WilfriedB
How can I view this page to check how many of my reviews are public?
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@alyaksander This is a common issue… It’s google algorithm shadow banning your reviews… There’s no actual reason…
Hello @shinutrk,
easiest is at the desktop:
- Copy the URL of your Google Maps profile showing My Contributions → Reviews or Photos,
- Open the browser in anonymous (aka private) mode and do not sign into Google,
- Paste the URL in to the address line and again do not sign into Google.
- On the left you see your public reviews or photo and the total numbers
- Click on your profile picture
- You see the total numbers of all your contributions including those, which are not public (as in my screenshot above). That way you get the difference to the numbers, you saw in step 5.
See also here: Count your hidden contributions (Mobile)
The next question, which are the hidden reviews or photos is much more tricky and time consuming to solve. See How to find your hidden reviews for an approach. With some programming skills, I can be made easier, though.
@WilfriedB
While checking my profile in private tab, there is only 39 reviews. But in my profile it’s showing 154.
I think this is a bug
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Which means, 115 of your reviews are hidden, @shinutrk 
While there can be false positives, with this high number of hidden reviews, I would guess more likely you and @alyaksander are systematically writing something the AI filter doesn’t like.
However, if you believe that your reviews have been unpublished incorrectly, you may fill out this form.
But note, this can take several weeks and you won’t receive any notification (if I remember correctly) and - as other local guides reported - it can take up to 8 weeks until falsely unhidden reviews are reinstated.
Also, if you edit any of the reviews after submitting the form. the appeal will be canceled. So I’d rather suggest to investigate a bit to find out, what you could change in your reviews before submitting an appeal. The articles mentioned above, might help.
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I would phrase this differently, @shinutrk : “I don’t see any reason …” 
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My review is the same, I will fill the form. I need the review do Mergulhaso been public.
Is this automatic?
I just filled out the AI filter forms, if they analyze it and it is approved, will I have to repost all the reviews one by one, or in 8 weeks will Google automatically display my reviews?
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My understanding is, they will just re-appear and don’t need to do anything. But since they don’t send any notification, you should check frequently
I still not get my review appear.
Verty strange.
Me neither. I filled this form some months ago and again in the last days. Until now, nothing.
Google is a black box on this matter.
Months ago? How can I resolve this today?
Please help me.
I need this review appear: Google Maps
Thank you for your tag, @WilfriedB , and sorry everyone for the late reply, @alyaksander , @henriquemps.
We had already a conversation about your hidden reviews here, @shinutrk : Many of my reviews aren't publically posted
Generally speaking I can say what I already dais to @shinutrk
“All platforms that host reviews (not just Google Maps) are increasingly constrained by requests to remove reviews deemed false, as they can harm businesses or consumers. In many countries, this has led to the creation of laws that provide for legal action against those who host reviews that may be deemed false, unless the platforms adopt tools to remove such reviews. In addition, in some countries the author of the review can also be called to court to answer for defamation.
There are therefore two concomitant elements: ethical and legal.
The ethical one could have been resolved with greater flexibility by the platforms. The legal one leads to only one solution: when in doubt, remove the review.”
It means that a hidden review may not necessarily be our fault, but of course checking the policies always helps.
Then we should consider another possibility. When the amount of hidden reviews is high, Google may choose to put a restriction in our contributions. In this case we will not be able to post any single review. To check if the account is restricted you can use this link: https://myaccount.google.com/restrictions
In addition, we have often noticed that blocking reviews can be caused by images, both those attached to reviews and (sometimes) those posted separately.
Always check your account and avoid posting:
- Duplicate photos
- Very similar photos
- Images and screenshots taken from the web
Below are some examples of prohibited content
Why do I say this? Because when you fill out the form to verify your account, the operator who will do the verification, finding the violations mentioned above, instead of releasing the reviews could decide to permanently suspend your account and also block other contributions.
All this would be unpleasant, so I always recommend doing some objective checks before saying “there are no violations”, and if in doubt remove some content.
Once this is done you are ready to appeal.
To do so you can use this form, as already suggested by @WilfriedB : Account investigation for contributions not visible on Google Maps
When I used it my reviews reappeared after a couple of months.
Remember, after making the appeal, do not make any changes to the reviews, because in this case the appeal will be automatically cancelled.
In this case you should try to edit your review. There is no way to speed-up the process.
Why, @henriquemps ?
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** Duplicate photos**
I don’t have any duplicate photos, they are all unique.
** Very similar photos**
This is an important point, type Paris then type France into Google, it will show photos of the Eifell tower from different angles. Why can Google do this, and I can’t post similar photos on maps? What is the rational response to this? Google punishing me for something it also does? Or another question, is the Eifell Tower in Paris, or is it in France? My photo of Cama de Anchieta is the same thing, is it on the beach, or is it in Itanhaém?
** Images and screenshots taken from the web**
I never took any photos from the web.
All these examples you gave are tourist attractions that can be considered both in one location and in another, like Eifell Tower. Detail, if these photos are public, it means they passed through the AI filter. The review in question, which I’m telling Google to show, is one from a diving school, it has nothing to do with the ones you posted.
the operator who will do the verification, finding the violations mentioned above
There is no violation at all, I actually visited these places and actually took these photos. If you want, you can look at my location history.
All this would be unpleasant, so I always recommend doing some objective checks before saying “there are no violations”, and if in doubt remove some content.
I assure you, there is no violation whatsoever. The AI failed, all the photos are real, I’ve been to all the tourist attractions visited (I have proof) and all my reviews are legitimate. I have never disparaged any company.
Once this is done you are ready to appeal.
I already appeal.
When I used it my reviews reappeared after a couple of months.
How many months?
Remember, after making the appeal, do not make any changes to the reviews, because in this case the appeal will be automatically cancelled.
When I filled out the forms, I just put the link to my account. I didn’t include the review link because I didn’t have that option. So, if I edit the review, how will Google know which review I edited?
Could you please show me the forms so I can post the link to the review that I would like to be unlocked?
I’m not speaking in my native language, everything here was translated by Google Translate, so there may be some interpretation problems. But I assure you that all my photos are real and I was there. AI will end the world.
