The folks over at GMBapi have put together a large study on the topic of how and why Google removes reviews from Google Business Profiles. It looked at nearly 5 million reviews across 78 countries and over 19,000 locations.
It seems reviews with higher ratings are more likely to be removed, reviews without replies are more likely to be removed, Google removes more reviews on Wednesdays and Fridays, and more.
In summary, the findings of why and how the reviews were removed from these local businesses on Google Search and Google Maps were:
- Inauthentic Activity: Reviews flagged as fake or promotional, especially in 5-star ratings, appear more likely to be removed.
- Keyword-Based Detection: Certain repetitive or generic terms may contribute to reviews being flagged and trigger deletions.
- Content and Tone: Extreme ratings, such as overly positive 5-star or negative 1-star reviews, seem to undergo closer examination, potentially due to their large impact on a business’s reputation.
- Engagement Factors: Reviews without replies or those from suspicious users may increase the likelihood of deletion. Reviewer-centric features have proven more effective than text features for identifying fake reviews in prediction models.
- Policy Enforcement: Reviews related to sensitive topics, such as employee feedback, may also be subject to moderation to ensure impartiality.
Here are some charts and data points that caught my eye.
A significant portion of positive reviews without replies are removed, possibly indicating the detection of inauthentic or incentivized reviews:
Reviews without replies may influence review removals. 73.7% of deleted reviews had no business replies, while 26.3% did:
Higher ratings/reviews get deleted more often. 69.5% were 5-star reviews, followed by 14% for 4-star reviews:
Deletions were highest on Wednesdays and Fridays, while Sundays had the lowest activity:
Forum discussion at SEOFomo.
