Hello - I just updated a review from 2 years ago to add a couple of photos because I thought it would make the review better. Once the edit was completed I see that the review is no longer online publicly. If I take a look in my Google Maps profile I see that the photos say pending. It’s been a couple days since I made the edit and I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas on why this could be happening. Nothing in the review text has changed and the photos are my own, so I don’t believe there’s any copyright violation – just perhaps something flagged by the algorithm. Is there anyone that could take a look at this and advise?
Hello @SimplyBllisss welcome to the Local Guides Connect community!
All posts, that is reviews, photos and videos are checked by an AI filter not only for obeying the rules, but also for suspected SPAM and false information. If the filter rejects any phrases of text or the content of media, it will not be published (“hidden” or “private”).
If one or more photos or videos are attached to your review, the entire review will be hidden if only one of them is rejected.
Therefore, if photos are attached to one of your hidden reviews, as a first try, you should remove the photo(s) and see, if text-only is accepted (even, if it was accepted longer time ago).
Upload pending, is yet a different story. In that case, it might be temporary glitch, but if that continues for more than a day, I’d also try to remove all attached photos and re-attach, but one at a time and wait until it gets published.
The approval process for videos can take several hours or even a day, while photo are usually accepted within a minute, unless the filter rejects one.
For more information, I suggest reading the series of articles written by @MortenCopenhagen a while ago: How to Get In and Out of Trouble: The Main post
Hope, this helps for now. Feel free to ask questions.
When you edit and publish your previously published comment in a similar way, it is largely considered spam. If you send the form to the Google support team, your unpublished comment will be published along with the photos. When filling out the form, make a request according to the date of the day you posted the comment. Do not edit the comment again after the comment has been published. Fill out the form.
I am also facing the same problem. My images/videos meet Google’s quality standards and are relevant to the place. Other similar contributions from other users are being featured, but mine are not. There is no clear indication of why my content is not being shown.
Many people upload personal irrelevant or private photos, and these photos get featured on Google Maps but my images/videos meet Google’s quality standards and are relevant to the place. There is no clear indication of why my content is not being shown.
Hello - Thank you for this explanation. Yes, I can now understand a bit better how the algorithm works.
I just checked the review and it is still unpublished. When I check in Google Maps while logged in it shows that the photo is also pending. This has been 24 hours.
As per your advice, I completed the form to request support. I do hope that there is a Google moderator available that will review this request and approve it for publication.
I understand I should wait an additional 48 hours for a response is that correct?
Once I am approved and published, as per your suggestion I will not modify the listing the review again.
I do hope someone will be able to approve this – and so I’ll keep checking.
Thank you so much for your assistance and for sending the form!
Hello - this is exactly the problem. Without a clear and specific indication from Google to explain why some reviews are flagged and not published, it makes it extremely difficult to correct the problem and avoid duplicating the problem in the future. It would be great if there was an automated response to help guide reviewers in this way.
Good luck. I hope your issue is resolved quickly. I will post back here if I’m able to resolve my own issue and have my review published.
It may take up to a few weeks for your comments to be reviewed. After filling out the form, your comments are reviewed, and after the unpublished comments are published, you will receive an email. Filling out the form does not mean that your unpublished comments will be published definitively.
Hello - Thank you once again for the quick respond and for this additional information. It really helps to know the time frame for this resolution.
Hopefully there will be an approval, as the review is not really any different than the original that was published – except that there was a photo added to better illustrate the service being reviewed.
Very happy to hear Google will send an email.
I will post back again here with the results once I have a resolution.
