Nothing infuriates me more then bad journalism, especially when they report that a a business in this case Nusr-Et (Salt Bae) somehow removed bad Google reviews on their business profile.

 

The Articles

Assume that the “updated by the business” label is something to do with reviews. News Flash, its Not!

This label is when the business has updated their Hours.

The next assumption is that a business can remove reviews. News Flash, they Can’t!

 

The Reality

Google has algorithms and automatically removes reviews that violate guidelines, which includes language and the single basic premise that the user actually visited or used the business.

A business can flag a review, which the reviews team will then manually check.

I found plenty of reviews that should not in fact be live as the user is a rubber neck reviewer – they left a review but have never visited.

 

 

If the business was flagging reviews, the above two would be removed without question as spam.

And its not just negative review rubber neckers. Martin admits he did not eat there but feels sorry for the business.

 

 

Journalists

Hopefully this explains the reality of what is going on, including fake positive and negative rubber necker reviews.

Expect to see more removals and please this time report on this correctly.

 

Reported Google Reviews

A quick look at reviews, both positive and negative, shows quite a few obviously spam / fake reviews.

Snapshot of these:

https://goo.gl/maps/WvBFzrhTeYYkgKV66
https://goo.gl/maps/5n5aokdVyWobwcA49
https://goo.gl/maps/Wc9tAYfUJRiRn3Vs8
https://goo.gl/maps/xBZHjZXK3xVHL46a8
https://goo.gl/maps/fr3VxX7yQr7cUocY6
https://goo.gl/maps/fQPtDK9YMtbEgTwSA
https://goo.gl/maps/F6wdDKbRVmkjBmXT7
https://goo.gl/maps/c9UeLFNuNVFAHB1f6
https://goo.gl/maps/6REwaKSME2CWzBoE7
https://goo.gl/maps/ivn1o1QnB1beUhNV8
https://goo.gl/maps/kwDsnsirYL4MUwiS8
https://goo.gl/maps/TYbLfh3V3DgLBGS19
https://goo.gl/maps/TZetzUAiPBQzj3Ec7
https://goo.gl/maps/npU8UPFxhCy84rnt7
https://goo.gl/maps/1MjzEN3bMXyignpU8
https://goo.gl/maps/PbfRJN5ndhjuoEXo8
https://goo.gl/maps/UAY9WtnzmZ3nxPLK6
https://goo.gl/maps/F33n2ajNXZiFcvod6
https://goo.gl/maps/48wJ1bJ7Jkby3aQd7
https://goo.gl/maps/eu33D5LNJL68NT4x8
https://goo.gl/maps/BMqkhksw2pY5KFiy9
https://goo.gl/maps/ZVTYUB1PJ5Th4Eae8
https://goo.gl/maps/AtD3PKBugR5qdyM89
https://goo.gl/maps/FL3Au96fz9fyepwr7
https://goo.gl/maps/875s57YAB1KAopKC7
https://goo.gl/maps/yDTjnghj2pE1RkGSA
https://goo.gl/maps/PVkSLfezcnznGid1A
https://goo.gl/maps/cKpRcKLHYhnt66m8A
https://goo.gl/maps/3x4G4drQYmHnWHZn6
https://goo.gl/maps/Rj8bGV5o5XsewEs87
https://goo.gl/maps/jVSoaZxVsN41AMBv9
https://goo.gl/maps/7JGa8eyJCYNMXr5E6
https://goo.gl/maps/uA9DjaMGWov2u3M3A
https://goo.gl/maps/fBKuvToXR2eU9xTd6
https://goo.gl/maps/Mv8gLBn9SQubA8Fv7
https://goo.gl/maps/WaX4gmuN8pDZx9P46
https://goo.gl/maps/z6ftM3mZK9ZGXtwRA
https://goo.gl/maps/9EKJyg7HjyUAumSy8
https://goo.gl/maps/m37Rask5cDMpfpzi9
https://goo.gl/maps/f4br9Kp7sVLdMdha6
https://goo.gl/maps/eitQLngk3tAhP8yH8
https://goo.gl/maps/DDMcWGthaLCgRt1W7
https://goo.gl/maps/N3Wt5TaRjMh5PiYr8
https://goo.gl/maps/deLtdReGK6drxQax5
https://goo.gl/maps/EmKHjPDYxLiH8Yxd6
https://goo.gl/maps/oD4evre6i79dE7FAA
https://goo.gl/maps/aQBvPTsLQm1Ndn2v6
https://goo.gl/maps/xcBWn5iKKwPjhHf87
https://goo.gl/maps/pB8X3Puhmi2DTa13A
https://goo.gl/maps/wgd2Cv5t44AM59r76
https://goo.gl/maps/VaHbVd9PDYqpFeNE7
https://goo.gl/maps/jBZJEBpg7iauSF2a7
https://goo.gl/maps/QF78cnD61F8drQK39
https://goo.gl/maps/wCfRDWqwEvSCjEd48
https://goo.gl/maps/jXaVtpzs7QtU74d77
https://goo.gl/maps/61hNDSzmkRWUMBEe8
https://goo.gl/maps/VH5vpDuQ9pugCv4f8
https://goo.gl/maps/wVcmpdnM3PaoZYWx5
https://goo.gl/maps/3RGawjvshNgfo7co7
https://goo.gl/maps/wh8V64ds1rtU37Gc7
https://goo.gl/maps/2v6zrjZHLRLWD9Th7
https://goo.gl/maps/xmkPfzcmYkEgMCmY8
https://goo.gl/maps/MhVycqhyddrBqAs59
https://goo.gl/maps/Mddee5K8KucWgQpQA
https://goo.gl/maps/FYdLdPXuK7XDdYDv5
https://goo.gl/maps/DD6zCxEhVg7ofsbZ9
https://goo.gl/maps/qNi7zYLASoyjLhNn8
https://goo.gl/maps/fgcStv3Hka4Awtxo8
https://goo.gl/maps/PKnaNJBC97wZ6JW86
https://goo.gl/maps/P3rzEHxxQeSX57X17
https://goo.gl/maps/21fNEs1yp1EZZVbz5
https://goo.gl/maps/b8RbUdXZbZi6TbEZ9
https://goo.gl/maps/9TKYUQc79to55zEy6
https://goo.gl/maps/S6jT5xhibK5mshR97
https://goo.gl/maps/soV9b2Ujktoz3jkV6
https://goo.gl/maps/Lp9x5fNHtYRjW9hS7
https://goo.gl/maps/r5xkcqE4RNFQ95He9
https://goo.gl/maps/1JUqYmsgSUDgBzuZ8
https://goo.gl/maps/ipCog2Bvz39Vf8kW7
https://goo.gl/maps/scScZ7y72sPB2FJ99
https://goo.gl/maps/5Rxo8t6aeLNMW1TR6
https://goo.gl/maps/cNwXt53rnG1dco548
https://goo.gl/maps/hS8JYmFieh9k8AZm6

 

Update from Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor this morning has suspended reviews on because of the sheer amount of spam / fake reviews:

“Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing”
 

Reminder About Reviews

It is illegal in the UK to post a review (positive or negative) that is solely intended to influence a persons perception of the business.

Perhaps journalists should keep this in mind before reporting on spam / fake reviews being supposedly removed by the business.