Escalation Request: Competitor Removing Their Own 1-Star Reviews via Mass-Flagging (Google Bots Locked Thread)

[Merkezefendi]

Hello Local Search Forum community,
I am dealing with a local competitor who is systematically weaponizing Google's review flagging system to artificially inflate their ratings. I have documented everything, but the official Google Community bots have completely blocked my escalation path, so I am hoping a Product Expert here can help.
The Issue: The competitor has been abusing the flagging system since last summer. I started closely monitoring their profile, and on August 24th alone, they successfully removed six 1-star and two 2-star legitimate customer reviews through mass-flagging. What makes this manipulation undeniable is that the business owner actually acknowledges the genuine customer experiences by replying to these 1-star reviews, and then maliciously flags them to hide the evidence.
Actions Taken: I gathered all the evidence (screenshots of the original reviews with the owner's replies + exact Review IDs) and submitted a formal Business Redressal Form for Fake Engagement/Review Suppression.

• My Support Case ID is: 8-6032000041882
• Public Evidence Folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JNWz9l4ZIg_dBUXJZ2O8rDNz8o8OAMH0?usp=sharing

The Problem with the Official Forum: I went to the official Google Business Profile Community to provide my Case ID to a Product Expert. However, the automated system marked my thread as a "duplicate" of the standard "Missing Reviews" FAQ and locked it. The bot completely misunderstood the issue—I am not asking about my own missing reviews; I am reporting a competitor's Deceptive Content abuse.
Since the official forum bots have shut me out, is there any Product Expert here who might be able to push this Case ID directly to the Trust & Safety team for a manual review?
Thank you so much for your time and any guidance you can provide.

 

[keyserholiday]

1. This forum doesn't allow people to post here asking for help with escalating issues.
2. There is no proof of your claim that this business has been doing anything wrong.
3. There has been a rise in the past few weeks of businesses losing reviews. so it might be from recent algorithm.

 

[Merkezefendi]

Hi @keyserholiday ,

Thank you for the reply. First, I sincerely apologize for breaking the rule about escalation requests. I’m a novice here and was guided to this forum as a last resort after hitting dead ends with official support. I am happy to delete the thread if required.

Regarding the proof and the recent algorithm update: I totally understand your skepticism. However, this specific pattern has been ongoing since last year, long before the recent review drops. The reason it looks like intentional manipulation is the sequence of events: a customer leaves a 1-star review with specific details (e.g., a photo of a menu with no prices, or a specific injury complaint), the business owner replies to acknowledge the visit and apologize, and then the review mysteriously vanishes.

I have documented many examples like this, but since it seems I've exhausted all avenues, I guess I will just have to accept it the way it is. Thanks again for your time!