Hi everyone,
I’ve been actively helping to clean up incorrect or spammy locations on Google Maps — things like private residences listed as businesses, fake place names, or clearly misplaced entries. I always avoid reporting official businesses or legitimate locations and try to follow the guidelines as closely as possible.
That said, I wanted to ask the community (and hopefully moderators) for some advice to make sure I’m contributing responsibly and not putting my account at risk.
A few questions I have:
Is there any guidance on how frequently it’s safe to report places?
Could an account be restricted even if reports are accurate and well-intentioned?
Are there any best practices for avoiding accidental policy violations?
I’d really appreciate any tips or clarification. Just want to make sure I’m doing this the right way and staying within the rules.
Thanks a lot!
It sounds like you are doing a lot to keep Google Maps clean and accurate. Thanks. I often do the same.
Please let me know what steps you take to report a place.
As long as you only make edits that you personally know are correct, I don’t think there are any maximum edits per day or week. I have made 108K edits and never had problems beyond the apparently random fluctuations in approval rates.
Are there any best practices for avoiding accidental policy violations?
Read the guidelines and relevant tutorials.
So, thank you very much for your heartfelt reply!
Let me share the types of places I usually report for deletion and how I handle them:
- Simple spammy entries like “My garden,” “my house,” “my garage,” etc.
I go to “Suggest an edit” → “Place is closed or not here” → “Doesn’t exist here.”
Sometimes, I also leave a review comment mentioning that the place is spam or misleading — just in case it helps moderators notice and remove it. - Places with offensive or inappropriate content, like names containing criminal, hateful, or argumentative language:
I report them through “Edit information” → “Offensive, harmful, or misleading.”
Again, I often leave a review explaining why it’s harmful or violates guidelines, hoping it helps the moderation process.
I always try to be thoughtful and follow the rules. I’d love to hear if there’s anything I could do better or more effectively.
Thanks again for your support!
I would avoid adding any reviews to non-existing places. You most likely violate the guidelines by doing so as you probably never visited the place.
Do you know difference between Does not exist here and Closed permanently?
Thanks again, Morten — your feedback is very helpful!
You’re absolutely right — I now realize that writing reviews for places I haven’t actually visited, even if they’re clearly fake or spammy, could violate the guidelines. I’ll definitely stop doing that and stick to the “Suggest an edit” option only.
That said, I’ve noticed that sometimes a clearly fake place doesn’t get removed, even after I report it properly. In those rare cases, I thought that leaving a comment (like “this is spam or misleading”) might help the system or moderators notice it. But now I see that it may not be appropriate, so I really appreciate the clarification.
Also, I’d like to ask another question:
I’m trying to organize a Local Guides meet-up in Azerbaijan and mentioned it in the Community. However, I haven’t received any responses so far.
Is there any way to reach more local guides — maybe through a bulk message or an official notification? I’d really love to help grow the Azerbaijani Local Guides community and bring people together.
Thanks once again for your support and for keeping us on the right track!
If you collect a bunch of fake businesses that you are unable to remove you can make a post here on Connect. Don’t share the links publicly but request a moderator to reach out to you. Then you can share the problematic links privately with a one sentence description of why you think each one is fake. After a check we can escalate them further.
The feature to contact fellow LG via Maps has been high on our wishlist for a long time. You will need to use other methods.
Please check here for alternatives.
Thank you so much for this guidance!
That’s really helpful — I’ve already come across several fake or misleading places that didn’t get removed after reporting. I’ll definitely create a post here on Connect with a short explanation and then wait for a moderator to reach out privately, as you suggested.
It’s good to know that there’s a proper channel for this. I’ll make sure not to share links publicly and provide just a one-sentence reason for each entry when sending privately.
Also, thanks for confirming about the lack of direct messaging via Maps. I’ll look into the alternatives you mentioned.
Really appreciate your support and the time you take to help contributors like me work more responsibly!
It’s great you’re helping keep Maps accurate @UzeyirMikayil
There’s no strict limit on reporting frequency, but avoid mass-reporting to prevent flags. Even accurate reports can trigger reviews if too many come at once, so focus on quality over quantity. Always double-check details, provide clear explanations, and avoid repeating reports on the same place. Staying updated on Google’s guidelines helps too.
How often do you usually report issues?
Thanks a lot for your kind advice!
Recently, I sometimes report up to 300 places a day — not because I rush, but because I often come across small regions filled with spam locations. Honestly, I didn’t expect the map of Azerbaijan to be this polluted.
Most of the places I report have meaningless or misleading names — like “Niko,” “Afo,” “Azik,” or family names such as “Babayevs,” “Aliyevs,” “Mammadovs.” These aren’t businesses or historically relevant places — just tags added by random users, probably students who opened Maps and pinned whatever came to mind.
And that’s still better than the offensive ones — I’ve also found places with really inappropriate or vulgar names, many of which I’ve already managed to report and have removed.
Thanks again for your support — I truly appreciate it!
You are most welcome @UzeyirMikayil
Hi Murat, great question — and one that many Local Guides may wonder about!
Yes, leaving a review for a business you received service from remotely is not only acceptable, but often very helpful for others — as long as it follows Google’s guidelines and is based on your own genuine experience.
According to Google’s official policy, reviews should reflect real interactions with a business, whether that’s in-person or online. If you’ve had a direct experience — like ordering a product, receiving remote support, using an online service, or communicating with the business in any meaningful way — your insight is valid and appreciated.
The important part is being transparent. For example, it’s helpful to mention that your experience was remote (e.g., “I used their service online” or “I had it delivered”). This keeps the review honest and avoids confusion, especially for people looking for in-person feedback.
Your review could include:
- Quality and reliability of the service
- Communication and responsiveness
- Delivery speed or product condition (if applicable)
- Whether expectations were met or not
- Any issue and how it was resolved
What to avoid:
- Don’t leave reviews based on assumptions or second-hand stories
- Don’t pretend to have visited a location if you didn’t
In short: yes, you can and should review remote experiences when they’re based on your real interaction. These reviews are especially valuable in today’s world where remote services are more common than ever. Just be honest, clear, and detailed — that’s what makes the Local Guides program so helpful and trustworthy.
Hope this helps! 
– Uzeyir
I agree that there are way too many fake reviews in Google Maps. As a Maps user I’m having a gard time understanding why some users spend time undermining the usefulness, quality and usefulness of this very helpful app.
Google is spending huge ressource on detecting and removing fake contributions. That is why honest LGs will often face problems with getting their perfectly good reviews taken down as collateral damage in the fight against spam.
I think it fair to primarily blame those who post fake contributions rather than Google.
Your example: please don’t post reviews as an employee or potential employee as people expect to find reviews based in a customer or visitor perspective.
Does this answer your questions?
