About five months ago (I missed it), Google began asking searchers if the business location they are visited offers rewards in exchange for reviews. The prompt that comes up in the app asks, "Does this business offer rewards in exchange for reviews?"
I spotted this recently via Colan Nielsen on LinkedIn but this was also posted by Claudia Tomina 5 months ago on LinkedIn and also on Reddit.
Here is what it looks like - two screenshots side by side:
Businesses are not allowed to offer rewards or incentives in exchange for reviews, this is against the guidelines:
We do not allow merchants to offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review.
Obviously, this can lead to those reviews being deleted or even worse, the business listing being suspended.
Forum discussion at LinkedIn.
