Google Reviews AI Updates Removing Legit Reviews And Blackmailers Demand Money Via 1-star Reviews

Mon 18 Jul 2022
By John Nayler

eCentral works hard for our clients to cement their reputation and see them rewarded for their hard work and customer service excellence.

In the recent weeks, there have been a couple of online activities that have made it increasingly harder for businesses to obtain and maintain their online reputation (social media) via the premier platform, Google Reviews.

Google Reviews AI Updates Removing Legitimate Reviews

Google has recently updated their AI that looks through reviews for indications that the review might be spam, fake or nefarious. For more than one of our clients this has meant the removal of some reviews. Our clients work hard for their clients and provide excellent customer service and they enjoy high Google Review rates, typically 4.9 and often 5.0. We know through our work surveying their customers that the reviews they obtain are completely legitimate. Unfortunately, that does not mean that the language that the reviewers do not gush or include wording that trips the wire for Google AI review checking processes to find the review removed. Disappointing, but a fact of life for the spammy and fake review world that we live in today. This update also means that new reviews from this point forward are increasingly likely to not even find themselves on Google to start with. They will be filtered at the time of writing.

Spammy Blackmail 1-star Reviews Now A "Thing"

Speaking of spammy reviews, recent news in the digital marketing space notes the increasing number of 1-star reviews being made against leading businesses to then be followed by a ransom demand from offshore to remove them. This is another terrible manifestation of the social media space that is reviews, and in this case, Google Reviews. It is hoped that Google works out means to identify nefarious reviews fuelling this ill intent and removes them before they can do harm. It would also work for Google to assist businesses to create better tools for reporting / flagging illegitimate reviews and offer simple means to have them removed. While a little difficult, Google has improving means to determine if the reviewer has previously interacted with or visited a business. 1-star reviews with no text, poor grammar or identified to have come from offshore are other means to determine the source of the review to be ill-founded.

All the while we find that our clients' ability to obtain and maintain great online reputations, primarily through Google Reviews, assists their business development and attracts high-quality customers.