Google Maps will now warn you about businesses with fake reviews

[Pelican Press 0]

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Maps will now warn you about businesses with fake reviews

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Many people use

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Maps to find out more information about local businesses, and a key feature of this is the

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Maps rating system. Now,

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appears to be taking steps to make its reviews more trustworthy, and warn users if it’s detected and removed fake reviews from its platform.

The change was spotted by

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(formerly

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), who posted a screenshot of a local business entry in

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Maps that came with a warning that read: “Suspected fake reviews were recently removed from this place.” This particular company is based in the ***, and it’s not known where else these warnings can be seen.

According to

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’s

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, a company that violates

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’s rules on fake engagement (including by posting or receiving fake reviews) can be restricted in a few different ways:

• The business “will not be able to receive new reviews or ratings for set ******* of time”
• Its existing reviews could be unpublished for a set ******* of time
• Its profile will display a warning to users about the removal of fake reviews, similar to the one mentioned above

Businesses will be able to appeal

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’s actions, but it’s likely that the warnings about fake reviews will remain in place while that appeal process is ongoing.

Detecting deception

Fake reviews can be used to maliciously tarnish a company’s reputation or to artificially boost a company’s standing, and that means

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’s restrictions can be used to either punish or protect a business that has received fake reviews. Regardless, fake reviews mean users can be misled as to the reputation and quality of a business, and that’s not good for anyone.

By displaying these warnings,

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is being a little more transparent about the issue of fake reviews. After all, if a company used fake reviews to increase its rating and reputation, and

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then removed the offending reviews without leaving a trace or warning, users would be in the dark as to that business’s shady practices. By notifying you that fake reviews have been removed,

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is letting you know that something fishy has been going on with that business.

That said,

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’s warning doesn’t say whether the offending reviews were positive or negative, so you might be led to the conclusion that a business has been artificially bolstering its own standing when in actuality it was the victim of a malicious review campaign.

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That suggests that there are still improvements that could be made to

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’s policy. Still, providing more information to users about fake reviews is certainly a step in the right direction, and could help to make your

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Maps experience a little more informative.

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#

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#Maps #warn #businesses #fake #reviews

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