Report fake reviews

[ginavrg]

I have a small private business which is completely fenced and gated.  I recently had two reviews posted by local guides who have NEVER been to my business and their very short reviews are inaccurate in the way they relate to and describe my business.  One is a 3 star and the other a 4 star review.  This is bothersome since this affects my overall review rating.  These two local guides are just posting fake reviews in order to increase their level and points.  There is another review by a Local Guide that was posted about 7 months ago which is a legitimate review.  How do I report the fake ones?  I've have reported those reviews to Google, but they never responded nor removed them.  I have looked everywhere to try to find where I can report these local guides with no success.  I even resorted to singing up for this site as a last resort.  Please help!! 

[deepakjhic]

Hey there, 

Here is the link which will explain in details that how to report content on map. 

https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/About-Local-Guides/How-Do-I-Report-Content-on-Google-Maps/m-p/...

Kind regards 

[PaulPavlinovich]

Hi

It seems like you’re trying to contribute information or promote your own business. The bad news is that if you are then that is outside what is acceptable for a Local Guide, however the good news is that Google My Business is there to help you. You can manage that yourself and add your own business listing or you can engage a Street View Trusted photographer to do it for you. Note you need to keep your business and Local Guides separate to stay within the rules.

You can report any reviews and photos that contravene the Photo and Video Policy and the Review Policy they will not necessarily get removed though, that will only happen if they clearly contravene the policies in force at the time of the review.

Regards Paul

[ginavrg]

Hi Paul,

Sorry, but I'm having a hard time understanding how you can possibly assume I'm trying to promote my business, since that can't be any further from the truth.  I've had two reviews in the last month from local guides who have NEVER been to my establishment, they have never contacted me, nor ever spoken to me.  They are posting fake reviews for the sake of advancing themselves to a higher Local Guide level and earn more points.  One review states my business is "a good place to hang out".  This is not even remotely possible since we are a very private small business which is fenced and gated at all times.  This is not a place you can come to "hang out".  According to the local guide rules, they are not allowed to post fake reviews and that is why I want to report them.  People who haphazardly post fake reviews can impact the overall review rating for a business.  They don't care about the impact they make as long as it furthers their agenda.  I have a problem with that, especially since they are breaking the rules.  I have one review from a local guide that was posted about 7 months ago which is legitimate.  I have already done everything you mentioned by going through the normal channels of reporting them through Google My Business with no success.  I didn't even get an acknowledgement or confirmation from Google regarding those reports.  It's pretty suspicious when a Local Guide posts an extremely high number of reviews in a very short time that are non-descriptive and lacking any detail regarding that particular business.  It's not only happening to me, but to many other businesses, and that's wrong.  I think there should be an avenue to report this type of irresponsible activity. 

[PaulPavlinovich]

---

@ginavrg wrote:

  I think there should be an avenue to report this type of irresponsible activity. 

---

I understand your frustrations. There are several avenues to report such behaviour. Both through GMB and through flagging the reviews themselves within the App and you can also post into the Features and Feedback board with subject "I want to report a Local Guide please contact me" and a Googler will reach out to you privately. Please bear in mind with the Summit only two weeks away and most of the team spread around the globe running accessibility meetups the Googlers are busy and may take a while to respond.

Feel free to PM a link to the place and a link to each of the LG profiles and I'll take a look at them. I can't promise anything but if they look bad then I can escalate them.

Regards Paul

[BernieL]

I'm following this as well, the Google Local Guide system seems extremely flawed, I've just found a 'review' of our business that doesn't say ANYTHING, just gives us 2 stars, when I check the reviewer they were down this way on a motorcycling holiday, so what were they doing reviewing a boarding cattery? they've never been here.

Like you I have 'reported' the review but you dont get the space to explain WHY you're reporting it.

Google you have started a BIG fail

[PaulPavlinovich]

Hi @BernieL please follow the same advice I gave @ginavrg

Local Guides Connect is for Local Guides not for business owners. Google My Business is for business owners. You can be both but you cannot do anything here that is related to your business. If your business is claimed through GMB you do have avenues to report Local Guides that are not following the polices and rules.

Regards Paul

[Dré]

I have this exact same problem!!! What is google planning to do about this?? Do we have to remove our business listing and loose all our actual generated traffic because morons misuse Local Guides???? This is just crazy.. I cant see why google cant check these fake reviews and block the IMEI or something on the devices of these fake guides. So that they cant recreate fake accounts and start doing the same thing again.

I dont want to add my local listing here because I will be accused of promoting my business like the guy to created this posting. But my business is a tour agency and my clients our people who travel to my country from overseas but the 2 morons who have left reviews are locals who seem to think they are being smart. I;m a big fan of Google so Im keeping up my hopes that they will bring about a solution to this. But in the meantime this is very frustrating.

[PaulPavlinovich]

Hi @Dré I'm sorry you've experienced a problematic person or persons. It is challenging for Google to know the difference between genuine negative reviews and fake negative reviews. You can report the reviews on your business entry. You have other options via Google My Business and I recommend that you take up your discussion there. In any case, as you're a business owner you cannot discuss your own business here as Local Guides program is for individuals not for businesses or agencies. You're welcome to use your Google account to undertake Local Guides activities but you cannot use it in relation to your own business.

Regards Paul

[Dré]

Hi @PaulPavlinovich, thanks for responding and ok i will refrain from making complaints about this over here.

However we have already reported the 2 reviews and are hoping Google would please take notice of it. Additionally the reviews have been responded to; strictly letting the user know that they are violating google policies and demanding the review to be deleted as we have a right to. Actually these are the only 2 reviews that we have on google but they are just star ratings and not even a word of text. I'm not sure how google identifies whether they are fake or not as I have no way of telling google why they are fake at the time of reporting. We maintain a 5 star review on facebook, so does google even consider comparing such reviews to other social networks (linked through our website of-course).

Is there any other place I could discuss this with Google?? This seems to be the closest place in relevance because it is local guides (your users) who are violating your policies. You say I could discuss this at Google My Business but where exactly? Could you please give me a more specific link where I could discuss this with a Google rep?