Google review policy: spam and fake content

The rule, in Google's words

The policy sits under "Fake & Misleading Content & Behavior" on Google's Prohibited and restricted content page. It says fake engagement "is not allowed and will be removed", and lists:

Content that is not based on a real experience or does not accurately represent the location or product in question.

Reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind.

Content that has been posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person.

Content that has been posted using an emulator or other device tampering service, modified operating system, or other method to mimic genuine engagement, manipulate sensor data or results, or otherwise thwart or confuse normal operations.

The same section bars posting "content on a competitor's place or business to undermine that business' or product's reputation". Google's page on unclear and repetitive content adds a related rule: no "posting the same content multiple times either from the same account or multiple accounts".

What this rule does not cover

• A real customer you cannot find in your system. People book under other names, pay with a partner's card and use nicknames on Google.
• A harsh or unfair review from someone who did use your service. Fake is about the experience, not the tone.
• A rating with no words. Google publishes those.

Google's report page sets the general limit: "Do not report a review just because you disagree with it or dislike it."

Evidence that supports a report

• The pattern. Several reviews in a short window, from accounts with no history, often with the same phrases.
• The copy. The same text on another business's profile. Search a sentence in quotes to find it.
• The mismatch. A review of a service, a location or a staff member you do not have.
• The demand. If a message asked for money to stop the reviews, that is extortion, and Google has a separate form for it.

Examples

These examples are ours. They are written to show the rule and are not real reviews. The cards at the top of this page show one review that can qualify and one that stays.

How to report it

A business reports a review from its Business Profile or from Google's Reviews Management Tool. Google says evaluation typically takes several days, and each review gets one appeal.

Report each review on its own, and choose the reason closest to spam or fake. When a wave arrives, report every review in it and keep a dated list with links. If the first report comes back as "no policy violation", use the appeal to set out the pattern in full. The appeal form is where the detail fits.

For health brands

Telehealth and GLP-1 brands see two patterns. The first is a burst of reviews after a price change or a news story, from people who were never patients. The second is a rival's affiliates. Both leave the traces above. A missing chart is not evidence you can send, and you should never send patient data to Google.

Where to go next

The main Google review removal page covers the full process. Our guide to removing a fake Google review walks through a report step by step. If reviews on your own profile were bought, read what happens to a profile that pays for reviews. The qualification tool checks a review against Google's policies in a few questions.

This is the work behind our Google review removal service. You pay per removal, and the three packs and their prices are public.