ReferenceBusiness Profile suspension
Fake Engagement
Google removes reviews and ratings that are not based on a real experience, were paid for, or were posted from several accounts at one person's request. Stop the requests that caused it before you ask again. Google can restrict the profile afterwards, and account action can follow, from losing some account privileges to termination.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- On the reviews and ratings the profile shows. Removed reviews stop appearing on it.
- What stops
- The removed reviews and ratings stop showing, and the profile can be restricted from new reviews.
- How serious
- Serious. The policy names account action, from losing some privileges to termination.
What it means
Google's policy covers reviews that are not based on a real experience, or that do not accurately represent the location or product. Reviews or ratings paid for, directly or in kind, count too. So does posting from several accounts at one person's request.
The rule concerns where a review comes from, not what it says. A five-star review from a real customer who was paid for it is fake engagement under this policy.
What actually triggers it
Reviews paid for in cash or in kind
Payment, and goods or services given in return for a review, both count as paid for, directly or in kind. A free service offered for a five-star review is an example of the in-kind form.
Several accounts posting at one person's request
A staff member, friend or relative who posts from a personal account because the owner asked counts under the rule. The policy covers the request, not only the posted review.
Reviews not based on a real visit
A review of a service the reviewer never received, or of a location they never visited, falls outside the policy's line on real experience. The policy's own wording is not based on a real experience, or does not accurately represent the location or product.
Fix it in this order
- Check the profile's reviews against the three types above, and note any you know were paid for, sent by staff at the owner's request, or written without a real visit.
- Stop the source. Do not ask for, pay for or arrange reviews from several accounts, because the policy covers the request as well as the review.
- Read any email from Google about a restriction. Google says it emails owners before it applies one, and the email names which restriction is planned.
- Before asking again, ask every customer the same way, with no selection of who gets asked and no request for specific words. Use the review requests page as the checklist.
The policy page describes the removal of these reviews and the account actions that can follow. It does not describe restoring a removed review, so the request practices are the part the owner controls.
Often confused with
Rating Manipulation
Rating manipulation covers how the business asked: rewards for reviews, discouraged negatives, and conflicts of interest. Fake engagement covers where a review came from: paid, staged, or not based on a real visit. One campaign can break both, and each is removed on its own grounds.
No new reviews or ratings for a set period
This is the restriction that can follow these findings. Read it as the consequence, not the cause.