Google has rolled out a new feature that warns users about suspected fake or fraudulent reviews on Google Business Profiles listed in Google Maps. In other words, the warning message will help users decide before selecting local businesses and services based on the ratings.

The new warning system about review handling on Google Maps was first noticed by Mike Blumenthal, who shared the screenshot on X (formerly Twitter). The screenshot uploaded shows the overview page of a carpet and upholstery company in the U.K., which displays a warning sign that reads, “Suspected fake reviews were recently removed from this place.”

In the UK suspected review abuse can lead to a 30 day review ban pic.twitter.com/m2eMY5hFrp

— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) September 16, 2024

While Google has yet to officially announce the new feature, a new report from Search Engine Roundtable states that the support page was updated in mid-September to apply globally. Apparently, the feature was already implemented in the U.K. but has now started rolling out in the U.S.

According to Google’s updated prohibited and restricted content policy, business pages that don’t accurately represent the location or product in question will not be allowed to display content on Google Maps. Further, any practice of getting reviews written on Business Profiles by offering payment, discounts, or freebies will be flagged down. Google Maps will also look for reviews that manipulate a place’s ratings by posting from multiple accounts to increase the numbers and its ranking.

In a separate support page for Business Profile restrictions for policy violations, Google states that it takes “fake and/or incentivized reviews and ratings on businesses very seriously.” It added, “Businesses that violate our Fake Engagement policy may be subject to certain restrictions if we determine violative activity on their profile(s).”

Google also said that if it finds a business owner violating Google’s Fake Engagement policy, it may restrict the Business Profile (in addition to removing the violative reviews).

Besides removing the fake reviews, the three examples of restrictions on the Business Profile include no new reviews or ratings being received for a given period, existing reviews or ratings being unpublished for a set period of time (likely during the investigation process), and a warning message being displayed to inform the user that one or more fake reviews have been removed from the listing.

In any of the above cases, the company will notify business owners via email if they plan to apply a restriction to their Business Profile, violating Google’s Fake Engagement policy.

Additionally, suppose businesses or individual users feel their business profile has been erroneously evaluated for fake reviews and ratings; in that case, they can submit an appeal or report to Google for a re-review.