Google has confirmed that it did not make changes to its Google My Business reviews policies despite the SEC rule change.
Google told Colan Nielsen, "the policies currently applied to Google Reviews do not differ for different business types or categories. We do not have special enforcement, requirements or functionality for financial advisors at the moment."
SEC Investment Adviser Marketing rule offers financial advisors the opportunity to modernize their marketing activities by requesting and promoting client reviews online. The release says "however, reviews published on conventional platforms like Google and Yelp do not meet SEC requirements for promotion and lack important information necessary for consumers to judge their accuracy and merits."
But at this time, it seems like Google is not making any specific changes to its review policies based on this SEC rule change. Colan Nielsen said in the Local Search Forum that Google has made no change here. Google told him:
The policies currently applied to Google Reviews do not differ for different business types or categories. We do not have special enforcement, requirements or functionality for financial advisors at the moment.
Google clarifies that the policies currently applied to Google Reviews do not differ for different business types or categories. They do not have special enforcement, requirements or functionality for financial advisors at the moment. https://t.co/sFUvhoaM4z
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) August 10, 2021
Forum discussion at Local Search Forum.