Google emails when it spots a spike in spam reviews

Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google has started sending Business Profile owners an email when its spam systems detect a sudden spike in spam reviews. The email is titled "Protecting your Business Profile from spam reviews" and tells the owner that Google has removed the reviews so they do not affect the business's star rating.

The report is based on a screenshot posted on LinkedIn by Antoine Cameron. Google has not published an announcement about it, so treat this as a trade publication reporting something owners are seeing in their inboxes, not as an official product change.

What the email says

According to the text quoted in the report, the email tells the owner three things:

• Google detected a spike in spam reviews and removed them, so they do not affect the rating.
• New ratings, reviews and other user contributions have been temporarily paused while the risk is dealt with. Google says the pause is normally lifted "within a few days".
• No action is required, but if you think legitimate reviews were removed by mistake, you can request a review of that decision.

The email also points owners to the usual options: editing your profile information, and turning on email alerts for new reviews.

Why this matters if you run a salon, clinic or garage

The part that will worry most owners is the pause. If Google stops accepting new reviews for a few days, customers you have just asked for a review will try to leave one and find they cannot. That looks like something is broken with your business.

There is a second risk worth knowing about. In the same Search Engine Roundtable piece, Amy Toman describes a former client who had opened a new location and was "always very good about getting a steady stream of reviews" — she suspects Google questioned their methods and applied this filter, and says the filter "needs to be refined a bit". That is one commenter's opinion, not a confirmed cause. But it is a reasonable reminder that an unusual burst of reviews, even honest ones, can look like a spike to an automated system.

What to do

If you get this email, don't panic and don't do anything dramatic. Google's own wording says no action is required. Do not delete your profile, do not start a second listing, and do not chase customers to re-post reviews that have disappeared.

Wait out the pause. The email says it is typically lifted within a few days. If you have a review request card, a QR code or a follow-up text going out, it is worth holding off for that period so customers are not sent to a page that will not accept their review.

Check whether real reviews went missing. If reviews from genuine customers have gone, the email says you can request a review of the removal. Keep a note of who left them and roughly when, because that is the evidence you will want.

Keep your review-gathering steady rather than bursty. Asking every customer as a matter of routine is safer than sending out a mass request once a quarter. Our guide on getting your first Google reviews covers how to ask without breaking Google's rules, and how to respond to Google reviews covers what to do once they arrive.

One more reason not to rely on Google alone

This is a small example of a bigger point: your Google listing is Google's property, and Google can pause parts of it without asking you. A customer who cannot leave a review, or who lands on a profile mid-pause, should still be able to find your own site, your opening hours and your phone number. That is the case for having a website of your own rather than treating the profile as your whole online presence.