It was recently reported at Local U that there are new options in the Google My Business dashboard that are available when flagging reviews.
As bad spammy reviews, reviews from ex-employees, and even reviews from competitors continue to be an issue for many business owners, the addition of the new options is being widely celebrated. Let’s take a look at what Google added.
New Options Menu
Here is what listing managers now see when they flag a review:
The menu structure is quite similar to what users see when they suggest edits to GMB to combat spam listings.
In detail, this is what Joy Hawkins of Local U found has changed:
- The descriptions under each option were not there before, making it easier now for owners to find the most fitting option
- The option for “hateful, violent, or inappropriate” has now been split up
- The option for personal information is new
- After selecting your flagging option, you are prompted with a new page that states it will take 3 days for Google to review your request
Some Industry Responses
This update finally matches the report that you make when reporting a review for take down with the actual reasons Google MIGHT take down a review… hopefully ending the cognitive dissonance previously involved in reporting.
But remember, it is still based on the TOS NOT truth https://t.co/7n8E7cossy
— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) January 22, 2021
Thanks for sharing That is a much needed improvement now if we can get them to actually do something with it.
— Search Talk Live (@Searchtalklive) January 23, 2021
Bonus: Real Person Review
Unlike how Google Maps spam is reviewed by an algorithm, when reviews are flagged they are manually reviewed by a Google representative, which many may not have known!
A human does review them last I checked. 🙂
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) January 22, 2021
