Google seemed to have removed/deleted a ton of reviews from Google Business Profiles within Google Maps and Local search last week, around September 17th. This came a day or so before Google updated its Google Business Profiles review restrictions policy and around the same time Google suspended many business profiles.
Earlier this week, Tim Colling, asked about it in the Local Search Forums - he asked:
In the past week, we have seen a higher than normal number of legitimate favorable reviews removed from many of our clients' Google Business Profiles. There is no apparent connection between the clients nor the nature of the reviews, except as noted below. Before this, there were only occasional review removals, a small number each week.The clients are all based in the USA. They are all involved in some aspect of providing care to the elderly or other services to them or their families.
Has anyone else noticed a new, distinctive surge like this recently?
Then Michel van Luijtelaar from GMBapi.com did an analysis of their data and noticed a huge spike in removed reviews around September 17th. Michel wrote in the forums:
On the 17th of september 585 reviews were deleted. On the 27th of July 217 deletions, on the 18th of July 121 deleted reviews, on the 19th of July 115, on the 31st of July 64 and on the 14th of September 29 deletions. It might be easier if you see it in the graph. I have published the deleted reviews on our blog, and added the graph below (hoping everyone can see this - now added as an attachment).
Here is his chart:
Update, this chart above is based on only five clients in five different industries. So it is not a huge data set - as I initially thought.
Did any of you notice a spike in reviews being removed around then?
Claudia Tomina added that July had more deleted reviews than other months, she wrote, "I think the peak was in July for deleted reviews and now they are coming to the forums or they are sweeping different categories at different times."
- July - 266 deleted reviews out of 5,505 (4.83%)
- August - 178 deleted reviews out of 6,062 (2.94%)
- September MTD - 58 deleted reviews out of 4,683 (1.24%)
Forum discussion at Local Search Forums.
