Google Maps is Cracking Down on Fake Reviews

An anonymous reader shares a report: Google Maps is reeling in business pages engaging in fake reviews, and highlighting such activity to its users. Google will now impose restrictions against business profiles that violate the search giant's Fake Engagement policy, such as temporarily removing reviews, blocking new reviews or ratings, and displaying a warning message on profiles that have had fake reviews deleted.

The business profile restrictions were introduced in the UK earlier this year, but Search Engine Roundtable notes that the support page was updated in mid-September to seemingly apply globally. For the moment, however, only users in the UK are seeing the business warnings.

Astroturfed revews from AI are Ubitquitous

[Seven Spirals]

Why would anyone believe "reviews" in an age where any number of reviews can be generated instantly with no repercussions except maybe some bad press if they get caught?

Re:

[smooth wombat]

The reviews I like are the ones where the person received an item in exchange for the review.

"This xxxxx is great! It does everything you want it to do!"

Gee, thanks. That is very helpful.

Re:

[Rinnon]

Eh, it depends on the review. You certainly can't trust the meta-score, but if you take the time to read and find a negative review that has put some thought into the specific issue, it can be useful in determining if that issue is a deal breaker for you.

Re:

[shanen]

So you have no solutions to share? Vague solution approaches? Not even... What did the orange albatross say? I thought the wording was rather hilarious, but I've already forgotten it. Maybe something like "concepts of a plan"? Or was your only concern claiming the FP slot. If so, why? Though I acknowledge your FP was relatively not bad compared to many I've seen...

Assuming your question is sincere, then I think there are two parts for an answer. One is related to your concern with identity. The best way to

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

So you have no solutions to share? Vague solution approaches?

Well, I was simply asking the question on my own mind. I really wasn't in a problem solving state of mind. I don't think there is any big sin in that.

Or was your only concern claiming the FP slot. If so, why?

Duuuude.... FIRST POST. *lil funky chicken dance* W333T W00T! I'm first, yeah yeah FUCK YEAH.

There. Did that help validate some of your biases against me? Happy to be of some service.

Not even... What did the orange albatross say?

I have no idea what you are talking about or suggesting. I feel like it's probably something Trump related (the "orange" part). *sigh* I thought there were enough libertarians

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[shanen]

I think you were going for funny, and so was I, but neither of us got there. But if I put on an English teacher's hat then I could read your answer to the class as an example of why inline responses should be deprecated. But you didn't write with enough clarity or rejoinder for more response. 'Nuff said? If you want more, I invite you to read my comment more carefully and convince me that you've found some of the deeper water. (And no, I also can't claim to write well.)

Okay, I can't resist a tangent. The FP

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

Most of my attempts at humor end up going over like a lead balloon or just confuse folks. I really should stop but sometimes I cannot figure out a better way. As far as first-posts, I agree with your points. It's just a wart on Slashdot and could be most easily fixed by defaulting to a different sorting algorithm for the threads like "most active" or "most moderated" and making time-ordered display an option but not the default.

Clean them up all you want

[RitchCraft]

The time for trusting reviews has long since passed.

Re:

[Vlad_the_Inhaler]

I read about a case in Germany a few months back where some troll had "renamed" a cheap food place and tacked a review on saying it was a great place for salmonella. The new "name" had something to do with sickness or food poisoning as well.
The tone of the article was that it was extremely difficult to get Google to delete the review - and reverse the name change - for some reason.

outube Does Nothing About Fake Ads--FTC Sleeps

[BrendaEM]

You see it every day: promises to reverse diabetes, and stop taking your heart medication. You see scratches removed from a car, that are really ran in reverse. You see ultrasonic tech for cleaning your teeth--which is really laser rust removal. Youtube has not done anything about the reports I have filed. Meanwhile, the FTC does nothing--just as it always does.

Re:[Y]outube Does Nothing About Fake Ads--FTC Slee

[shanen]

YouTube LOVES any and ALL traffic that boosts the numbers shown to the fools that advertise there. But it's actually worse than that. YouTube probably prefers offensive ads that create pressure to buy subscriptions. New flavor of blackmail, but I'm sure the EVIL google has a much nicer name for the aggressive marketing strategy.

But hoping the FTC will do anything about it? I don't know what drugs you're using, but perhaps you should cut down?

Re:

[Seven Spirals]

My solution is Cavet Emptor: buyer beware. Be skeptical and suspicious. Don't believe anything you see or hear on the Internet without tons of collaborative supporting evidence if it's something that matters. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Getting the FTC or Youtube to play Whack-a-Mole with 1000 chinese video reviews is pretty pointless. They ran pretty open scams for all kinds of things back before the Internet on late night TV. If you were gullible enough to believe the preachers or "A

Re: outube Does Nothing About Fake Ads--FTC Sleeps

[newcastlejon]

The "sponsored videos" are just as bad, if not worse. I get them for religious doggerel, get rich quick scams, 'manifesting' success (whatever the fuck that is), brazen misogyny, and snake oil.

Oblig...

[LordHighExecutioner]

...xkcd [xkcd.com] quote.

Fake reviews BAD...

[jenningsthecat]

...bullshit advertising GOOD. Got it. Thanks, but no, thanks.

Fake vs Unpopular

[devslash0]

How do you tell a fake review vs an unpopular one? Just because someone is negative, angry and/or grammatically deficient doesn't mean that the review is fake. It could simply be a very disturbed and dissatisfied customer. Meanwhile, you can be sure that all businesses will try their best to make the "fake" claim to take down as many unpopular reviews as they can until they reach 5 stars again. The entire online review model is fundamentally broken and unhealthy and should be stopped rather than fixed.

A review of a product or service means more to me.

[Dr_Ken]

when it's noted whether the review is from a "confirmed buyer" or not. Occasionally I've gotten personal msgs or emails from interested persons asking specific questions about a product and I usually dash off a quick answer. Just letting anyone (or any bot) chime in is kind of asking for trouble IMHO. Like allowing returns w/o receipt. Assholes like liquids always find openings to infiltrate.

Surprised it took them this long

[Baloo Uriza]

Google Yellow Pages (it's flagrant false advertising to call it a map) only ever cared about selling business listings anyway, not the accuracy of the map data or its usability in navigation. You'd think they'd have been on top of protecting that business model from the start.