Hello,
My reviews and photos stopped showing up about 6 months ago. Is there anything I can to do fix this situation? I’ve already filled the form “Account investigation for contributions not visible on Google Maps” a month ago.
Thanks .
4 Likes
Hi @Eyupmerich
Thank you for reaching out with your query about your Google Maps reviews not showing up.
I viewed your profile and saw that you have posted 13 reviews but only of your one review is visible and I think they were taken down due to lack of relevancy in them . Read the following and implement it in your future reviews and your reviews will surely be visible. Also if your reviews aren’t relevant, filling the report form is of no use.
Here are a few things to consider:
-
Review Length and Detail:
Make sure your reviews are detailed and describe your experience. Instead of writing just one line, try to include specific details about what you liked or disliked. This helps other users and makes your review more valuable. -
Compliance with Guidelines :
Ensure that your reviews comply with Google’s review policies. Avoid using inappropriate language, personal attacks, or irrelevant content. -
Be Honest and Constructive :
Share honest feedback, and if you have suggestions for improvement, include them. Constructive criticism is often more helpful than just stating what went wrong. -
Use Photos :
Adding photos can make your reviews more engaging and informative. They provide a visual context that can enhance your written review.
Here’s an example of a more detailed review that I have made by seeing your review
Instead of : “I buy vegetables every week .” ( Your Review )
Try : “I buy vegetables every week from [Store Name]. The produce is always fresh, and there’s a great variety to choose from. The staff are friendly and always willing to help. The prices are reasonable, and the store is clean and well-organized. I especially love their organic section. Highly recommended for anyone looking for quality vegetables.”
I hope this helps! Keep contributing and your reviews will become more visible and helpful to others.
Best of luck.
1 Like
Thank you for your answer @Mayank_Ahir , but my problem is different I believe.
My reviews are long and informative. Most of my reviews include at least 3-6 photos and a detailed post about the place. I also uploaded some videos. My reviews aren’t taken down, they aren’t showing up to begin with. I can see that I gain points and such, but only I can see my reviews. My last review that is shown to everyone is like from 6 months ago.
I would appreciate your insight on this matter. Thanks.
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Thank you for the wonderful follow up question. @Eyupmerich
Kindly, Provide the links to your reviews that you can only see, so we can further investigate.
Thank You !
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@Mayank_Ahir Here’s some of the links
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DVi7RYUK6LRuWs3W9
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KfEwKu51MkdW6yfHA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AxQwQokEMbpVv7Cm8
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dHS4z6R3gXCzQKXLA
https://maps.app.goo.gl/uxYwwgs5ERPwd4xTA
Thank you.
1 Like
I tried looking at your reviews but the links are showing unsupported then I tried to paste the link in different browser but it was only leading to the page that said ’ This review is no longer available '.
I might need help here. I am tagging some moderators they will surely help you as I am not able to figure out the problem completely.
1 Like
Thanks for the tag, @Mayank_Ahir .
I am sorry about your issue, @Eyupmerich .
You are the only one that can see the reviews made “private” by Google Maps, so sharing the link of them is useless. We can help you more with your long and detailed reviews if you paste here the text of the review, but first of all let’s talk a bit about the issue.
First of all, as you already filled the appeal form I suggest you to avoid to edit your reviews for at least one more month. The verification of the reviews may take several weeks (8 in my personal case) but editing a review before the moderation will delete the moderation, because the edited review will appear as a new one.
If in two months your reviews (or some of them) is not released, then you can consider to edit them.
Like you can read in An update on how we moderate Google Maps reviews “content moderation consists of trained machine intelligence and humans”. It means that the some review can be blocked by mistake, but sometimes it also means that we can not intentionally violate some policy.
Also note that the review and attached media are analyzed together, and a review may also be made private if the AI deems one of your media pieces to be against the policies. In fact no one of your media is publicly visible in your profile
If a review with media attached is made private by Google Maps a good practice is:
- Edit your review to remove all the attached media. If the review with text only is posted, try to add your media one by one, to find the one that is triggering the filter. If the review without media is not posted, check the next step
- Check the Maps user-generated content policy and make sure the review complies with them. Then, from the Google Maps help page, check the Tips for contributing high quality reviews & photos . Please keep in mind that while a single review may appear to be in compliance with the guidelines, using similar phrases in multiple reviews, or using a consistent pattern in writing your reviews may be considered a violation.
- If you think your reviews are written in accordance with what is described in the previous point, you can submit an appeal for verification. Keep in mind that, as I wrote above, it can take several weeks for the reviews to be analyzed by a trained operator.
I know how annoying this may seem, but unfortunately the problem of fake reviews is huge, and it involves all the companies that provide online platforms to write reviews. Since the problem can have implications for these companies, they have all decided to increase the filters to block any content that may appear to be non-compliant. If you want to know more you can read Your review has not been published. Do you know why?
Feel free to paste the text of some of your reviews here if you want a more detailed analysis.
4 Likes
@ErmesT thank you for your detailed answer.
I believe there is an issue with my account. Because, doesn’t matter whatever I write, it won’t be shown to anyone else. It will be automatically hidden to everyone, but me. I think reviews content is not relevant.
I can delete all of my reviews if that’s going to help.
Thank you.
2 Likes
A block on all new reviews is a known sanction. To make it more complicated the reason for the block is not always to he found in the review texts them selves. So you can very well be correct when you think the reason is not in the texts. Did you try removing all photos as suggested by Ermes?
Kindly consider sharing a few if your review texts in a reply below. Just to be sure.
Cheers
Morten
2 Likes
@MortenCopenhagen thank you for your reply.
I’ve deleted all photos and videos I uploaded. Now there are only text reviews left. They are still not visible though.
My reviews are in Turkish language. Here are some of my reviews that are not visible.
Yaklaşık 8 yıldır Her gün en az 2 kere baştan sona gezdiğim ve avucumun içi kadar İyi bildiğin bir yer. Yazın serin oluyor gayet tavsiye ederim.
Her 2 haftada bir gittiğim yer. Yıllardır aynı berberde traş oluyorum. Fiyat uygun, saç kesimi güzel. Daha ne olsun.
Yıllardır alışveriş yaptığım bir mekan. Bazen ürünlerde KDV indirimi falan yapıyorlar. O sıra almak istediğiniz ürünü güzel bir fiyata alabiliyorsunuz.
Thank you
1 Like
Those are perfectly okay reviews, @Eyupmerich
Are you managing a business on Google Maps with the same account?
Have you been adding made up reviews at any point?
Have you been liking your own reviews?
Have you been putting phone numbers, email addresses, or web addresses in any if your answers?
When did you last use the firm relat e to hidden contributions?
This is not easy.
Cheers
Morten
1 Like
@MortenCopenhagen thank you for the questions, they gave me an idea as to why my reviews are not visible.
I’m a web developer. I created my own local business on May 17 this year, with this account. My business got automatically suspended right after the verification process. After that, I made an appeal, and sent some documents to Google. Thankfully, my business got reinstated again on May 20.
When I think about it, my reviews stopped showing up after that day. Maybe it has something to do with the suspension. I’m not sure.
But I really don’t want my business to get suspended again. I also have a Google Ads running for my business that is connected to this account. I think it is a good idea to delete all my reviews on this account, and leave local guide all together if possible. And use/create another account for local guide.
What do you think I should do? What would you suggest?
By the way, my answer to the rest of your questions is No.
1 Like
It is possible to be both a local guide and a business owner using the same account. But it is more difficult to avoid conflicts of interest. Reviewing your own business, and your competitors is absolutely a no go. Also, requesting friends and family to post positive reviews of your business can get you in trouble.
You did not answer my question about submitting the form related to hidden contributions?
If I were you, I would seriously consider using 2 separate Google accounts for respectively LG and Business. But keep in mind Google will likely connect the two behind the scenes, so you still need to avoid all conflicts of interest.
Cheers
Morten
1 Like
Sorry, I submitted the form on July 12. And this was the Google Form I used.
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It can take up to 6 weeks, but if you deleted all your pics and reviews then it makes no sense to wait, @Eyupmerich
Morten
1 Like
People who run a business are still people, who shop, travel, live, just like anyone else, @Eyupmerich , @MortenCopenhagen . And they have the right, like anyone else, to write reviews about their experiences. There is no problem with that, as long as there is no conflict of interest involved, but I don’t see that as the case. I say this from personal experience. So I don’t see a reason to delete your reviews, unless one of them is about one of your suppliers, or one of your competitors.
Thanks for deleting the photos (although I see from your list of contributions that 17 photos still loaded in Maps). This tells us that the problem is in the content of the reviews.
It could be the text of the first one, which triggered something in the filter, or the fact that you follow a repetitive pattern, but my feeling is that your reviews are filtered because they are “useless”.
Let me explain: In your only visible review you say: “I buy vegetables every week”. You probably take it as obvious that the very fact that you visit a place often proves that the place is good, but if I were a Maps user I would want to know other things, so I will try to answer what I myself would want to know if I were to visit a place for the first time.
Why you buy vegetables there every week? Because it is close to home? Because the quality is good?, Because the place has good prices? Because the service is great? Because it is not crowded?
I mean, why would you recommend me to go there?
A lot of people think that saying “I go there” is enough to make a review authentic, but Maps asks us to share “our experience of a place”. Generic reviews are often considered “Fake engagement”, and one of those can be enough to trigger something in the filter that then blocks subsequent reviews. I speak from personal experience. It took me three appeals (six months) to get my account completely unblocked, after one of my reviews was considered “fake engagement”. Deleting reviews will not remove the block, so I recommend you leave the reviews and, since you have already appealed, wait for them to be analyzed
1 Like
Thank you @MortenCopenhagen
I’ll just delete my reviews that I made with this account, then leave LG. I will use a personal account for LG. It’s best not to complicate it, and use separate accounts.
Thanks again.
I understand your point. People should be able to own a local business and be a LG at the same time. Yet, I have come to realize that it might be a good idea to use different accounts for business and for LG. Because Google is notorious when it comes to business suspensions. I don’t even know if LG behaviors cause business suspension, but I wouldn’t want to risk it. I haven’t done anything that violates Google policies, but the automated system is prone to make errors.
Is it possible that my account got blocked when my business was suspended, but has stayed blocked ever since even though my business has been reinstated again? Btw I haven’t deleted my reviews yet.
Thank you.