Accounts created for random (bad) reviews

[Anonymous]

Hello dear Local Guides,

sometimes I see reviews for places and companys, wrote by an account just created for a single review.

In the screenshot you see two ratings, my five stars rating and also a one star rating, which is not counted in the average rate.

My question: What happens with this "one-review-fake-accounts" and do I have to report them as a "conflict of interests" or is there another option?

Have a great day and thank you already!

Greetings from Germany 🙂

[Pea · Accepted solution]

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@Anonymous wrote:

do I have to report them as a "conflict of interests" or is there another option?

The option "conflict of interests" is used when the reviewer has some kind of connection to the business, eg they are the owner or an employee. Also if they are paid by the owner to do some work such as take photos of the place. In these circumstances although the reviewer might say the rating is their honest opinion, there is clearly a conflict of interest 

If you feel sure that review is fake the best option is probably to flag as Spam.

Btw as you've noticed, the place you mention has two reviews, your five star and the spammy one star, and yet the overall rating is 5 not the mathematically correct 3. That's because Google doesn't use a simple average for the total rating, the actual process is a secret but it would seem on this occasion the spammy review has already been discounted

[Anonymous]

Good to know! Thank you very much for this fast answer! 🙂