Google suspends reviews and Q&A for Covid-19

[JoyHawkins]

I just wanted to give you a heads up that currently no reviews can be posted or responded to on Google. We're waiting for messaging from Google regarding this to see how long this will be in effect. In the meantime, I would suggest not asking people to leave reviews until it starts working again. We'll let you know when we hear back.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Here is the official wording from Google:

"New reviews, review replies, and new Q&A will be unavailable during this time."

 

[Scott Rawlins]

Thanks for sharing @JoyHawkins.

 

[keyserholiday]

Google announced that they are suspending the ability to leave or reply to reviews and Q&A's due to Covid-19.
Announcement

 

[Greg Gifford]

while I get it - it's likely that there will be tons of negative reviews for businesses that aren't true indicators of that business in normal times - it sucks they're stopping Q&A - there's a TON of value in letting business owners seed questions about how they're handling things and if they're still open or not... so kinda disappointing that they pulled that too

 

[keyserholiday]

Google is completely overreacting. They appear to be in full lockdown mode, temporarily closed for business and not stopping reviews and removing Q&A. I am not sure what’s driving their decisions. I’d love to know.

 

[George Jones]

So the Q&A doesn't even appear in the Knowledge Panel anymore, either on mobile or desktop. However, Posts are still relatively quick to go live. They can be a great way for businesses to communicate their Covid -19 response to their communities.
I wanted to share some generic posts "shells" that I have designed for my clients. All you have to do is add your logo to them. I hope they can help local businesses during this challenging time.

 

[JoyHawkins]

There are a few other GMB things that are not functioning as normal due to COVID-19. I compiled a list here: Google My Business Changes Due to COVID-19 - Local University

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Thanks for the heads up, Joy!

It looks like NAP edits aren't being accepted, or are delayed as well: 2020-03-23_1135

 

[Ann Schmitter]

Just had my first post rejected...one I have used many times before. It's for a mortgage company, so not sure if it's rejecting due to the Covid crisis or what. Posted on 8 other clients pages for clients just fine, this is only one rejected.

 

[JoyHawkins]

FYI - I tried to contact GMB this morning and phone support & chat support are both disabled. Sending them an email is the only way to contact them directly at the moment.

 

[Barb Davids]

My copywriter in Brisbane AU says she is still able to write reviews for businesses.

 

[TrailBlazerWA]

Any info on if the reviews that are being posted now will eventually show up after the GMB team is back to work? Or are the reviews lost forever?

I see that if I post a review somewhere it shows up under my own account that I posted it, however it's not visible to the business or the public.

 

[NickB-Tampa]

Google is completely overreacting. They appear to be in full lockdown mode, temporarily closed for business and not stopping reviews and removing Q&A. I am not sure what’s driving their decisions. I’d love to know.

They are short-staffed due to safety measures the company has taken.

 

[ianscott]

It seems that Google is now allowing reviews on GMB listings, however, at least some are not being published right away.

 

[keyserholiday]

Google never stopped the collection of reviews. They just stopped publishing them on March 20th. Google has now allowed some categories to have new reviews published.

 

[ianscott]

That's interesting - I definitely saw GMB Listings previously where the "Leave A Review" link had disappeared completely.

 

[keyserholiday]

These are different things. Google didn’t remove the “write a review” feature for any businesses. Honestly, I wish they had. I would have made it much easier to answer one question on the GMB forum. The only time Google removes the “write a review” feature is when they see cases of abuse. I wrote about it here.

 

[Nikki Stine]

Google never stopped the collection of reviews. They just stopped publishing them on March 20th. Google has now allowed some categories to have new reviews published.

Does anybody want to share what categories they are now seeing new reviews? I tested a grocery store, and I see two new reviews in the last 3 days. The most recent review before that is from 4 weeks ago.

 

[ianscott]

Does anybody want to share what categories they are now seeing new reviews? I tested a grocery store, and I see two new reviews in the last 3 days. The most recent review before that is from 4 weeks ago.

I left a review for Whitespark - it hasn't shown up yet.