Policy & process
What Google prohibits in reviews
Google's rules are specific and public. Knowing them is the difference between a report that lands and one that is dismissed.
Google publishes the content rules for everything that appears on a Business Profile. Reviews are assessed against those rules, not against how damaging or unfair the review feels to the business.
The categories fall into two groups. Prohibited content is removed when it is reported and confirmed. Restricted content is treated differently: it may be allowed to stand, or restricted in how it appears, because the subject matter is sensitive rather than ban.
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The prohibited categories
These are the grounds a review is actually removed under, and the ones we map cases to.
- Spam and fake engagement: incentivised reviews, review swapping, bulk or scripted posting
- Off-topic content: anything that is not about a genuine experience at the business
- Harassment and bullying: slurs, threats, personal attacks, and content targeting staff
- Conflict of interest: reviews from competitors, ex-employees and anyone with a stake in the rating
- Personal information: names, addresses, registration numbers, phone numbers and records
- Impersonation, illegal content and content that misrepresents the business
Restricted rather than prohibited
Some material is limited rather than banned. Where content is sensitive, Google looks at the context and the reviewer's relationship to the business before deciding whether it can stay.
- Sexually explicit content and nudity, which is restricted on Business Profiles
- Content involving minors, which is treated as a serious category
- Dangerous or regulated goods and services mentioned in a review
- Content about a health or medical experience, where the reviewer's own account is usually allowed
What is not a breach
This is the part most businesses find hardest to accept. A review can be harsh, one-sided, badly written, deeply unfair and still fully compliant with Google's rules.
- A genuine customer's account of a real visit, however negative
- Opinions about quality, value, waiting times or staff manner
- A one-star rating with no text at all
- An exaggerated or emotional description of something that did happen
Official Google documentation
Questions we get asked
No. Falsity on its own is not a category. A false review becomes reportable where it makes a specific, checkable factual claim that breaches a named policy, for example an allegation of illegal conduct or content that impersonates someone.
Never on that basis alone. The test is the content and the reviewer's relationship to your business, not the commercial damage.
Google does. We build the strongest possible case and file it through Google's process, but no provider can guarantee an outcome.
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Tell us about the review
Send the review or your Google Maps link on WhatsApp. We will tell you whether it breaks Google's rules, what a removal costs, and whether it is worth filing at all. The decision is always Google's, and the eligibility check is free.
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