In addition, it misleads consumers to make purchases based on recommendations that are not based on facts or even opinions. Do you read them? Do you trust them? Do they influence your purchasing decisions in any way, shape or form? If the false opinion persists, you can also try to contact Google Small Business support, who will contact you in a couple of days. I've also found that if the “reviewer” has a Google+ profile setting (which is quite rare, to be honest, Google+ is a joke), you can see their profile. After a few emails and threats of legal action against the reviewer and Google, he withdrew, but after a couple of reminders to them too after they said it had been.
Pereira got so fed up with Google's automated responses and lack of follow-up that he exposed some shortcomings in the process, writing a false review for his own business and then complaining about it to Google. I'm a local guide and Google often asks me to check where I've been; restaurants, subway stations, parks, anywhere that can be pinned on a map. Google then sent my next customer, who I hadn't asked to write a Google review, a message inviting her to review her session with me. Google doesn't seem to distinguish between trivial places (why would I review a subway station) and more substantive places (restaurant, gym, etc.
Dean believes that the fake review industry can exist because technology companies like Google aren't interested in solving the problem. Google has made it clear that the content of reviews should reflect the genuine customer experience in a business location. The video continues to show that the same review was published word for word on the Google My Business page for a pain clinic in California. For example, two seemingly unrelated Google reviewers sponsored the same pizza place in Toronto, the mentoring club in Delaware, the counseling center in Michigan, as well as the outlets of the same national lawn care and home safety companies in far-flung parts of the United States.
I think you're underestimating the vastness of Google's review system and all the negative effects that increased vigilance would have before Google makes sure it's done competently. When Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea Football Club in the English Premier League, appeared to have posted a review on Google complaining that a Manitoba moving company had lost three of its watches, Chris Pereira knew something was wrong. Google My Business is the most popular consumer and business review platform on the planet and, according to Google, 1.5 billion people a month visit a physical location based on what they have searched for on the platform. You can't control what's in the review snippets, the ones you see in the right sidebar (the knowledge panel), or those in the Google Maps 3-pack.
