Disappearing Google Reviews: Removal or Bug?

Over the past few days, many business owners have noticed a sudden and sometimes drastic drop in the number of reviews displayed on their Google Business Profile. This raises an important question: is it just a display glitch, or are reviews actually being removed?

What’s Happening with Google Reviews?

Unusual fluctuations in the number of reviews on Google listings have caught the attention of professionals over the past few days. These unexpected changes spark concerns about their cause and potential impact on business visibility.

Here’s what we’ve observed:

• Review counts fluctuating: Many businesses have reported an unexpected drop in the number of reviews on their listings, with some experiencing significant decreases.
• 5-star reviews in the spotlight: According to reports we’ve received, it appears that 5-star reviews are being impacted the most.

Possible explanations:

• Minor technical updates: Google may have made adjustments to its system, temporarily affecting how reviews are displayed.
• A simple technical bug: Technical issues happen everywhere – even at Google!

Google Confirms a Display Bug

After several days of concern, Google has finally acknowledged a technical issue affecting the display of reviews. Victoria Kroll, from Google support, confirmed this on the Google Business Profile Help forum:

“We’re aware of an issue affecting some Google Business Profiles, causing some profiles to show lower-than-actual review counts due to a display issue. The reviews themselves have not actually been removed. We’re working hard to resolve this and restore accurate review counts as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and will share updates on this thread as they become available.”

What to Do in the Meantime?

For now, the best approach is patience. Google has reassured users that the reviews are still there and that the issue will be resolved soon.

In the meantime, you can:

• Monitor your listing regularly to check your review count and see when the issue is fixed.
• Follow the Google forum thread for the latest updates on this issue.
• Keep requesting reviews from your customers (both verbally and using Partoo’s Review Booster) to help balance out any temporarily missing ones.

Google Remains Committed to Fighting Fake Reviews 

At the end of September 2024, Google had already announced stricter measures against fake reviews. “If we determine that a business owner has violated our policy on artificial engagement, we may impose restrictions to their business profile (in addition to removing non-compliant reviews)”, Google stated. 

Beyond simply removing fake reviews, Google now plans to:

• Temporarily disable the posting of new reviews.
• Hide existing reviews, even legitimate ones.
• Display a “shame banner” on the listing to warn consumers about fake reviews.

It’s clear that Google is ramping up efforts to detect fake reviews on business listings to provide users with more reliable information. However, it remains unclear whether the recent review removals are directly linked to this initiative.

In the Meantime, Stay Tuned!

It’s still too early to jump to conclusions. We recommend keeping an eye on your listings and staying alert for any official updates from Google. Rest assured, we will keep you informed as soon as we know more!