Reviews not showing up publicly although checked for any violations of Google policies

Hello everyone,

I have a concern regarding the reviews that are published on my side, but kept hidden by Google online. I noticed this issue for a while now. None of my recent reviews and photos were made public although I believe I didn’t violate any terms and policies by Google. I also made sure the alphabetical restrictions and other typos so that it’s not flagged.

So, I checked some of the posts here to get a reasonable answer and found that there is a temporary Google form provided by the moderators of this group. I have already submitted the form for investigation since I strongly believe that my reviews reflect the true experience with the businesses and other places. I suspect that someone might report my account to Google for which none of my reviews are being published. However, Google isn’t verifying whoever flagged me is legitimate or not. Also, Google isn’t looking into the contents of the reviews that I am trying to publish - I have many five stars reviews, also I have a few negative reviews - nevertheless, they are all from my real experience and legitimate.

So, the question is, is there any other reason that should be taken care while writing future reviews? Any advice from my fellow local guides and moderators would be highly appreciated!

4 Likes

Same is happening to me. I have the suspicion that a account can get shadow banned and that all the reviews get censored no matter the content.

It is a really bad practice on Googles side to censor and block account without any information. I am going to delete my account by the end of the week since all my posts get blocked now there is no sense in continuing

2 Likes

@Enaiyat

From helping suspended fellow local guides here are a few things you could check:

Are you representing a business on Google Maps?

Have you been liking your own reviews?

Have you been reviewing you current or former workplaces?

Have you been writing super short or long reviews?

Have you reviewed businesses belonging to friends or family?

Have you been encouraged or paid to write reviews?

Have you been sharing opinions or political views not related to service or products from the business?

Have you reviewed businesses where you were not a genuine customer?

Have you been adding links, phone numbers or social media references in any of your reviews?

Have you been repeating any text or headings across your reviews?

Have you included any text stolen from elsewhere in your reviews?

Have you been publishing your reviews in parallel on other platforms like yelp, TripAdvisor, booking.com, airbnb, Amazon, or even your private blog?

Have you made sure to include details that prove you visited the place?

Have your language always been respectful?

Let me know if any of these tips are relevant and helpful to you.

Finally, keep in mind that hidden reviews can be an early warning that you are violating other guidelines not directly linked to your reviews.

Cheers

Morten

2 Likes

Hi @MortenCopenhagen ,

Thank you so much for such detailed questionnaires. I would say, ‘no’ to all of them except that I acknowledge that I have some repeated texts in the past. For example, if my experience was positive, I would write in the end of every review that “I would definitely recommend this place”. Or, something in the beginning, such as, “I have had a pleasant experience with this business”. If Google flags that as a spam, I will be more cautious for my future reviews.

Honestly, I am pretty demoralized now since I was trying my best to reflect my true experiences with the places added in the maps. I am not linked to any paid services nor do I have any other tenacious intentions to harm any businesses. What I felt, experienced, I tried my best to let others know.

I will pause writing any reviews or uploading pictures for now until I am being clarified and educated more about Google’s algorithm to detect fake reviews. From my side, I strongly believe that it’s my own experience wherever I visited. I noticed that I have been flagged by Google for the last six months as none of my reviews were published since then. I eagerly want to know what mistakes I made so that I could correct myself and enjoy doing what I used to do.

2 Likes

Having the same issue my friend yet no one can tell me what I’ve done wrong? Simple email from Google saying If there’s a policy violation would suffice. Maybe three strikes and your out system? But no shadow banned and no one knows why…

Hi, I have the same issue, many of my reviews are now hidden, but they are all genuine and this happened only recently. The only thing that I could think of is I am liking many pictures of japanese Localguides because I love the country and the food, could it be that? Or could I have been reported by someone who misinterpreted my liking actions?