Suspected Fake Positive Reviews

Google Maps tips & tricks
1

I suspect a business I recently reviewed, is posting fake positive reviews.

The indicators for this suspicion are -

  • The positive reviewers all only have made the 1 review
  • The owner of the company always replies to the positive reviews
  • The owner does not respond to negative reviews

I would like to know how this problem can be addressed?

*Please note I have no vested interest in this company, I am just an individual ‘Local Guide’ who would like the information posted on Google Maps to be as accurate as possible and not misleading.

This is my 1st post to this forum, so if I have got something wrong then I apologise in advance. I did read the guidelines but I am still slightly unclear. I saw something about tagging a moderator, but I was unsure who to tag, so if someone can advise on this I would be most grateful

4 Likes
2

You could try to report a fraud business using this form, @andyevs1 : https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_redressal_form?hl=en

You could also ask for help at the help community: https://support.google.com/business/community?hl=en . Not Connect. Imho.

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@iorikun301

I don’t think the links you have sent me are the ones I need unfortunately.

When I look at https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_redressal_form?hl=en

this tells me the following

“If your complaint is not related to fraudulent activity on the name, phone number, or URL of the business, we will not be able to review your complaint. Please use these steps to report problems for all other Google Maps features.”

and as I am asking about a company who I think is posting fake reviews this is not covered here

Also https://support.google.com/business/community?hl=en

is about ‘My Business’, and as this is not my business, it is just a business I have visited, this does not cover what I am look for either, I think.

Thanks for trying to help.

1 Like
4

A place that has already claimed on Google Maps is called Google My Business, @andyevs1 . Of course it’s not your business. You could find more about that kind of listing here: https://support.google.com/business/?hl=en#topic=

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@iorikun301

OK thanks,

I have posted to their forum to see what reply I get.

Thanks for your assistance.

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6

Hi @andyevs1

There are more appropriate and easier ways to deal with fake reviews and profiles.

In Google Maps apps we can flag individual reviews if we think they are fake. And if we see a profile making lots of spam we can also report such users.

Please see How to identify and report fraud on Google Maps and
You can now report entire profiles for abuse on Google Maps.

Just because a review is short and positive does not necessarily mean it is fake.

Cheers

Morten

1 Like
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@MortenCopenhagen

There are many reviews - possibly around 150 - 200 of them. Am I expected to go through and report them all? This seems like the wrong approach to me. Also I do not want to falsely accuse someone, who may not be doing anything wrong, as there could be an individual there who has only posted 1 5-star rating for this company and no others.

Also some of the 5-star reviews are not short. They certainly are not long, but some are very specific in their content, almost like they are there to promote different aspects of the business. I did not put this in my list of criteria that leads me to suspect this company, in my original post, but this possible self promotion seems to be there.

The links you have sent seem to relate to reporting the people posting the reviews, am I right? Whereas I think the route of this problem is the company, who somehow are getting these reviews done for them, to promote their own business.

Many thanks anyway.

2 Likes
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@andyevs1

Correct, the links I shared are to report individual reviews and fake local guides profiles.

That is pretty much the best way forward as discussed here.

Morten

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@MortenCopenhagen

I see from the link you sent, that reporting each individual post seems to be the only way of reporting what I suspect to Google. I also see from the other posts on the link, that there is a large degree of frustration in this system, as clearly it does not address route of the problem. Also I do not want to falsely accuse someone else of doing something incorrect, when possibly they have not, as I outline in my previous post. So what happens… nothing and the company keeps all the single 5 Star reviews, that I strongly suspect are being posted by themselves, or people known to them…

I would say this problem needs looking at by Google as currently this is a loophole in the reporting system…

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Hi @MashaPS

Can you provide a better answer in this thread?

Cheers

Morten

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Hi @andyevs1 ,

What @MortenCopenhagen suggested as an approach is correct. However, I understand that reporting this amount of reviews is time consuming.

I would like to ask you to please share the Google Maps link of the business you are mentioning, so we can look into it.

Thanks Morten for tagging me.

Have a nice day!

2 Likes
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@MashaPS

Many thanks for your reply.

Do I send you the links via a private message? I do not really want to start accusing someone publicly for something I only suspect, as that could have very bad repercussions for me.

I trust you understand

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Hi @andyevs1 ,

I understand your concerns and thank you for being thoughtful regarding sharing information.

As long as this is a business’s Google Maps profile, which is public, it is alright to share it here.

When it comes to sharing personal information, we do not encourage Local Guides to share private information publicly on Connect in order to protect yours and other users’ privacy and safety.

Thanks

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@MashaPS

I suspect you do not know the litigation laws here. As such I will not be posting any companies information here as it is very easy to instigate legal proceedings, via the local Barangay offices for around $2.

All I am doing is trying to improve Google Maps information, but I will not put myself at risk doing so. I trust you understand.

So unless there is a non-public way of sharing this information I will not be doing so.

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Hi @andyevs1,

I understand.

Please be informed that I am going to send you a private message with further instructions.

Since you are new to the community, you might not be aware of private messaging on Connect. You may find your inbox following this link.

If you are willing to learn more about this, feel free to take a look at these threads posted by a fellow Local Guide:

Private Messages - How to Receive & Reply Private Messages in LG Connect - TravellerG What is a Private Message & How to Send Private Message in LG Connect - TravellerG

Thanks

1 Like