Missing Reviews/ Reviews Disappearing

[obcted]

So I've been following this topic for a while now, here and elsewhere. I understand that google is working on it but this has been going on for a client of mine for about 6 months and we now have some good documentation.

I've read the post here:

Why Are My Google Reviews Not Publishing? - Sterling Sky Inc

If you are a business that is frustrated by Google not publishing your reviews, you are not alone. We are seeing more and more reports of businesses that are complaining about missing Google reviews or reviews not publishing when customers post them. In this example from the forum people...

www.sterlingsky.ca

I've submitted a ticket here: Sign in - Google Accounts
and opened a post here: Sign in - Google Accounts
Here's the post: https://support.google.com/business/thread/166543588?hl=en

In short my client tells me 10+ have gone missing Since February 2022. After a while he started having his clients send screenshots because they would tell them they left reviews but they wouldn't show. I have proof of 3 but client is insisting it's many many more.

If I could get at least some of these restored it would go a long way.

Client has 2 offices (Boston MA and Salem MA)

Here are the respective profiles:

Paul R. Moraski - Google Search

&

Paul R. Moraski boston - Google Search

Name	Location	Review Date	Screenshot?
Bryan Dawley	Boston	4/28/22	Yes
Andrew Rich	Salem	2/28/22	Yes
Madeline Delgado	Boston	2/12/22	Yes

@JoyHawkins any tips or tricks aside from what I've done so far? These are all clients of my lawyer clients and they are not posting from his office or anything to trigger an IP issue. I'm at a loss for what to do and client is getting frustrated. Any advice you or anyone in the community has would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Ted

 

[talkoutloud]

I would love some help with mine @JoyHawkins Here is the link to mine Missing Review - Google Business Profile Community

 

[JoyHawkins]

On it

 

[dgrunited]

Not only has the filter got stricter, but they also have been doing waves of takedowns lately so I'm hearing tons of reports of businesses losing reviews in the last week that were published before but then got removed recently.

One thing to try is instead of sending customers a link to review you with, tell them to search for you on Google and leave a review. That *might* help - it's worth testing.

I'll go escalate your thread on the Google forum now.

Yes, this is a good strategy. Google wants you to "visit" the business (preferably a few times using Chrome) by searching for the business online before you place your review.

Guess what? If you don't place your review after multiple visits, Google will remind you to place your review

 

[obcted]

Hi @JoyHawkins Have you heard back from Google on this?

 

[JoyHawkins]

Not sure which thread you're talking about but I'll respond on the Google community, not here, when I get responses for those threads.

 

[obcted]

Hi @JoyHawkins thank you so very much. Sorry for being vague. It was in reference to the link in the original post - Client Reviews Disappearing - Google Business Profile Community

It looks like post was closed for some reason. Someone else tried hijacking my thread (in the link above ... UGH!)

Should I open another thread here? Please let me know - thank you for all your help.

Ted

 

[JoyHawkins]

Ted,

I unlocked the thread. They get locked if there is a month of inactivity but these cases are taking longer and longer due to the volume we're getting of them. I have not heard back on yours yet which is why I haven't come back and posted an update.

 

[obcted]

Hi @JoyHawkins I understand - thank you very much. I knew it could take a while - I just got nervous when I saw the post closed. Thank you for explaining it to me. Cheers!

 

[talkoutloud]

@JoyHawkins Google has done this to my reviews again!

Reviewer:
Lyle Stratton said he left a review on Sept. 26
Tangee Summerhill-Bishop said she left a review on Sept. 22

Both of these are real clients. Why are the reviews not being put through on my profile? I'm confused about what is getting flagged and why some people can leave reviews and others can't.

 

[pilatesqueen]

Hi guys,
I am having the same issues with the reviews not showing on my Google Profile. I had 4 customers leave reviews for our business in 2022 and neither one of them was published (publicly at least.)

One of the customers sent me a screenshot of the review that he can see on his end, I have review dates and review text from the others (but no actual screenshot.) It's so frustrating. I've spent hours talking to Google My Business support with absolutely no result.

 

[IMP]

Not only has the filter got stricter, but they also have been doing waves of takedowns lately so I'm hearing tons of reports of businesses losing reviews in the last week that were published before but then got removed recently.

One thing to try is instead of sending customers a link to review you with, tell them to search for you on Google and leave a review. That *might* help - it's worth testing.

I'll go escalate your thread on the Google forum now.

I have a divorce lawyer with 4 locations and all of them have in the last couple of days lost many reviews from legitimate clients. In total probably over a dozen removed. We didn't keep copies of all the reviews but we know the total counts.

 

[keyserholiday]

Today's sweep just hit. Business A. lost 32 reviews, business B. lost 14, and business C. lost 17. Here is the law firm I am also tracking.

 

[WilliamGMBE]

I have a divorce lawyer with 4 locations and all of them have in the last couple of days lost many reviews from legitimate clients. In total probably over a dozen removed. We didn't keep copies of all the reviews but we know the total counts.

This is happening accross a lot of businesses. Not just legal ones. It has been happening since the end of last month. Not sure exactly what the pattern here is, will try to do a longer study.
Some of the random business we track as part of GMBAlert.com, these are the data between

Today's sweep just hit. Business A. lost 32 reviews, business B. lost 14, and business C. lost 17. Here is the law firm I am also tracking.

Did these losses translate to a change in ratings? Was the losses significant enough?

 

[keyserholiday]

This is happening accross a lot of businesses. Not just legal ones. It has been happening since the end of last month. Not sure exactly what the pattern here is, will try to do a longer study.
Some of the random business we track as part of GMBAlert.com, these are the data between


Did these losses translate to a change in ratings? Was the losses significant enough?

I am not monitoring the rankings for these locations. I am only monitoring the review counts. I have never seen businesses lose rankings when Google removes reviews. Let me know if I can help out with your study. I know Curtis Boyd would be happy to help too.

 

[BenFisher]

Hi All,
Google is asking for examples of profiles affected by this. Please DM me a list of affected profiles and how many reviews have been removed and I can open a case about this.

 

[keyserholiday]

Hi All,
Google is asking for examples of profiles affected by this. Please DM me a list of affected profiles and how many reviews have been removed and I can open a case about this.

Post that in this thread too. All of the examples of businesses losing reviews were either bought or acquired by a shady review vendor.

 

[IMP]

This is happening accross a lot of businesses. Not just legal ones. It has been happening since the end of last month. Not sure exactly what the pattern here is, will try to do a longer study.
Some of the random business we track as part of GMBAlert.com, these are the data between


Did these losses translate to a change in ratings? Was the losses significant enough?

1) We lost another 16 overnight. These were 100% clients and legit reviews.
2) So far our rankings in maps has not been impacted. But, our competition is probably losing reviews as well so the tide may be rising and falling for all the same...

 

[IMP]

Post that in this thread too. All of the examples of businesses losing reviews were either bought or acquired by a shady review vendor.

All of our lost reviews were actually by clients of the law firm. 100% legit

 

[IMP]

Today's sweep just hit. Business A. lost 32 reviews, business B. lost 14, and business C. lost 17. Here is the law firm I am also tracking.

Our one client lost 16 more overnight...

 

[keyserholiday]

1) We lost another 16 overnight. These were 100% clients and legit reviews.
2) So far our rankings in maps has not been impacted. But, our competition is probably losing reviews as well so the tide may be rising and falling for all the same...

Would you mind sharing the name and address of the client? I would love to take a look.