REVIEW FILTERING · WHY IT HAPPENS
Reviews do not vanish at random. They are dropped for reasons you can list, evidence you can collect and, in some cases, an appeal you can file. What you cannot do is buy your way past the filter — that is the pattern the filter is built to catch.
A reviewer with almost no history, posting from a device that has never been near the location, is the first thing to drop. Google publishes the underlying rule as a rule about real experience; the score behind it is not public.
Ten reviews in one week after two in the previous year is a pattern rather than a coincidence. A burst that shares a network, a device set or an hour of the day tends to be filtered as one group.
Discounts offered in exchange, links and phone numbers, reviews from staff, from competitors or about something the business does not sell — these are removed under Google's prohibited and restricted content policy. These are also the ones you can appeal.
We list what is published, what was removed and what customers say disappeared. The rating is recalculated without the entries that break policy, so you see the size of the problem before paying for work.
Each eligible review gets its own reason — spam, conflict of interest, off-topic — filed with dates and evidence. Google decides, not us, and the case list stays visible to you.
A dropped review is a profile mismatch, so the fix is the profile: Android device, US mobile carrier IP, coordinates and photo EXIF on the point, opening hours and intervals that look like a human week. Not one IP dumping a batch in an hour. The listing checklist ships with it, so the profile stops contradicting the place.
Rating, review count, appeals filed, replies sent. If the numbers do not move, you stop the pilot instead of renewing on faith.
The person who wrote it usually still sees it in their own profile while the business cannot. Ask the customer for a screenshot with the date and the text — that gives you the wording and the timing an appeal needs.
Sometimes. Google reinstates reviews it removed by mistake, and policy violations are worth reporting with evidence. A review that simply never published usually has nothing to appeal; the fix is a corrected listing and real customers, not a form.
We do, from a managed session — not the owner, not a marketplace reseller. Android device profile, US mobile carrier IP, location and EXIF on the point, delays between actions. What the filter can read is exactly that profile, so that is what we control instead of promising a text will stick. Asking customers directly is allowed too; paying in exchange and gating are what the rules forbid.
Appeals take days to a few weeks and there is no service level you can rely on. The listing checklist turns around in days and gives you a documented correction list; published reviews come after, when the profile stops giving the algorithm a reason to doubt it.
You can report them. Reviews from people who were never customers, coordinated fake reviews and reviews posted to damage a business break Google policy. Reports carry more weight with dates, names and evidence attached.
One location, a Maps link and the reviews you know are gone. The first output is an audit: what is published, what is eligible for an appeal, and what the rating would be without the entries that break policy.
Five actions on one location: listing audit, appeal list, field-check brief, reply set and a weekly report template. You approve every step before it runs.
Message the operator $50 PILOT · 5 ACTIONS