Google Shows Its Methods for Detecting False Reviews of Local Businesses

In a recent blog post, Google announced that they have improved their machine learning techniques to identify and eliminate even more false content, including bogus reviews, company listings, user-submitted pictures, and videos. Almost 115 million reviews were either disabled or deleted, which is a hike of 20% from the year 2021. Moreover, the automated systems deleted over 200 million photographs and 7 million videos.

This announcement brought about a series of questions about how Google actually eradicated these false reviews and about the further steps that will be taken. But in its announcement, Google ensured maximum transparency and also educated its audience on the issue. With so much happening, the need for eCommerce SEO experts who can enhance the authenticity of your business is also set to increase. 

The Methods Used By Google to Detect Spam That Users Post

New machine learning algorithms are being used by Google to identify and eliminate fraudulent and false content posted. These machine learning models examine user-generated information for anomalies, such as identifying and reporting previously unseen types of abuse.

Google has also stated that it has been employing machine intelligence for years and aims to continue doing so while also staying up-to-date on the trends that the evolving technology gives birth to.

Here’s what Google added: “Last year, we launched a significant update to our machine learning models that helped us identify novel abuse trends many times faster than in previous years. For example, our automated systems detected a sudden uptick in Business Profiles with websites that ended in .design or .top — something that would be difficult to spot manually across millions of profiles. Our team of analysts quickly confirmed that these websites were fake — and we were able to remove them and disable the associated accounts quickly.”

The Spam Filters – Finer and Better

In order to prevent malicious or fraudulent content from being added to Google Maps, the Google system reviews all new submissions before they are made public. Spam is stopped much quicker and more efficiently by these new methods than it was in 2021. 

Recently, many cases emerged where fraudsters were tricking common people by presenting incorrect contact information. They also added photos in order to make the entire thing appear real. As a result, people would end up calling the scamsters rather than the actual business owner. That is why it is all the more important to hire an eCommerce SEO company.

Here’s what Google did to solve this problem:

“To combat this issue, we deployed a new machine learning model that could recognize numbers overlaid on contributed images by analyzing specific visual details and the layouts of photos. With this model, we successfully detected and blocked the vast majority of these fraudulent and policy-violating images before they were published.”

Stats & More

In a comment to the FTC from January 2023, Google revealed that, in addition to examining the content, it employs signals to detect bogus accounts. Moreover, they utilize a technology they call “intelligent text matching” to search for red flags like bots, duplicates, and suspicious word patterns that are common in fraudulent reviews.

The Bottom Line

Google Maps blocks inauthentic activity via automated and human reviewers. This fraud detection on Google Maps benefits both users and businesses alike. So if you are a business, get the services of the best eCommerce SEO agency to get better benefits.