Why are Google Maps reviews automatically rejected?

Google Maps is a platform that is not limited to finding routes, it is also possible to do that submit reviews of companies, doctors or any other places available on the platform. This feature is very popular among users who no doubt use it a lot to take revenge or vent their anger. Google Maps has tried many times to improve the system without success, so what now?

Google Maps reviews allow everyone to form an opinion about their surroundings, although this is not always covered by a certain truth. This is the reason This feature is often criticized by professionals because it is easy to pollute average ratings with negative reviews. However, it’s not unusual to see overall ratings bordering on average for companies that are respectable. Most Internet users do not read comments, but are limited to looking at small yellow stars, which can clearly affect the lives of the most respected companies (too bad for others? ^^). Therefore, Google Maps wanted to act as you will see later…

How do Google Maps reviews work?

The way reviews work is childishly simple. For the average user, For the opinion to be taken into account, it is enough to leave a comment with a note. After a short moderation phase, the review is published and counted in the average rating of the target location. Other than checking that the company has responded to the notice served or has not been challenged elsewhere (companies can request removal under certain strict conditions) there is nothing else to do. And because the system is well designed the more reviews you leave, the more legit you become by Google Maps, which may even assign you “local guide” status..

As for points of interest on Google Maps, Owners of a Google My Business account (or now Business Profile, because the name changes as often as the fashion ^^) can manage reviews. In particular, it is possible to respond to comments or request removal for very specific reasons (defamation, etc.). But overall, it must be acknowledged that submitted reviews have an unfortunate tendency to be retained by Googledefinitely influence the opinion of the users of the companies or respective places.

Overall, Google Maps has been making fun of its publishing rules for years, but that’s largely the law the platform plays by. When a company receives constructive comments such as “fraud” or “this is a scam”, sometimes even from a competitor (yes, because some are smart enough to post with real Google accounts…), the deletion request almost never succeeds. However, this is slander, pure and simple, without a detailed argument that might make the general opinion tolerant. Faced with so many meaningless comments (and sometimes just no content), Google Maps has had to act to limit abuse.

When algorithms (AI or idiots?) take over…

Google has a desire to replace humans with artificial intelligence algorithms.. And once we’re sure we’ve found an artificial one, sometimes we’re still looking for intelligence for a large part of them. YouTube is a typical example of these intolerant algorithms, which de-monetize videos with the smallest name of a well-known entity (brand, film, music…), where French law allows the right to quote by example. In short, IT is not there to make sense in this context and Google Maps seems to be affected by the same disease…

For months, many users and especially local guides, talked about issues that confirm their opinions on Google Maps. As we said before, reviews don’t have to be ranked, there is definitely a middle ground between accepting all reviews (even fake ones) and automatically rejecting them (even from honest people). Google Maps seems to have taken the second solution, countless reviews have been rejected despite being full of real experiences and feelings. This is the height the rejection message is always the same: “Google’s moderation processes and systems have identified content that may be artificial interactions.” No Google, here the interaction is not artificial, but you have intelligence! 🙂

Just a few examples of forums where users have expressed themselves since spring 2022 (most comments are still from fall 2022):

In many cases it is equal local guides who don’t understand why their reviews can be banned for “artificial interaction”. On the one hand, Google Maps gives them the status of a local guide, and on the other hand, they attack the reviews by confirming that the conversation is about fake activity, height…

Given the comments or my own experience, there is no logic in dismissing these ideas, whether you’re on your regular device, whether you’re using a cached browser (the solution Google Maps offered me, so quote…), whether the feedback is positive or not, they’re rejected. and so on. Basically, Google Maps algorithms are still learning and we are the guinea pigsas is often the case in such cases.

In order not to leave you completely alone in the confusion, know that it is possible to write, for example, on Twitter, to Google Maps, or to try to get answers through special forums (often unsuccessfully, I admit). But above all, Published an online form for Google Local Guides to verify their account and find the possible reason for these systematic rejections at: https://support.google.com/local-guides/contact/local_guides_appeal?hl=fr. Feel free to contact the support service to understand what’s wrong (although I won’t hide it from you, the result for me was not as expected so far… ^^).

For my part, if Google Maps doesn’t do what it takes to respect honest opinions, more so Local Guides, as long as it removes the review feature (which would be very biased). And above all, I risk offering my constructive opinions elsewhere to help consumers or visitors make an informed choice. I love AI on a technological level, but unfortunately it still doesn’t have to come at the expense of quality, as is often the case. In the meantime, I wish you all the best in providing great reviews! 🙂