cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50778217
🗺️ While visiting Pride Berlin, I learned how utterly pointless Google Maps Reviews in Germany are.
⭐ Any place can simply report negative reviews for defamation or claim the person was never there and have it removed.
Users can then appeal & risk a lawsuit.
When a review is removed the removed count on Google Maps goes up (🖼️ 1)
However that count is reset after 365 days and also only goes to 250! (🖼️ 2)
Therefore companies can simply mass report negative reviews to improve their rating.
https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/16997273
So many vulnerable people are relying on Google Maps reviews & ratings to tell them where it is save to go.
Some places have only 1000-2000 reviews but >250 reviews removed in the past 365 days!
Like how bad must the situation there be?!
Absolute shame.
A Café in my hometown recently got review bombed by nazis after they kicked out a far right streamer. Hundreds of one star reviews by people who had never been there, with made up claims. Should they not be able to have these removed?
You can remove those by actual defamation lawsuit in any country I think, however what is done in Germany seems very different and at the cost of the users imho.
Of course? Where did I say they shouldn't be removed?
You said they're crap if they have many removed comments. They have a rating of 4.7 and did so before the review bombing.