Many Restaurant Businesses Get Negative Google Reviews Removed

Around half of the affected businesses fall within the range of one to a maximum of 20 removed reviews. Another roughly 20 percent lie between 21 and 50. Only a smaller portion shows ranges of 100 or even up to 250 removed reviews. The evaluation thus reveals a broad spectrum – from individual outliers to systematic waves of deletions that can alter the overall picture of an establishment.

Google Now Publicly Displays Deletions

For several weeks, consumers have been seeing a notice on Google reviews indicating whether and how many reviews have been deleted. The notice appears on the Google business profile directly below the review summary. Google stated that the notice influences neither the ranking nor the placement in local search results. In Germany, due to a high number of complaints "for defamation under German law," a notice is displayed on profiles when reviews were removed in the past year.

Google groups "defamation" to include untrue statements of fact or opinion expressions not factually justified. Businesses could also claim that the author was not actually a customer. This gives establishments several avenues to remove critical voices from their profile – a circumstance that industry observers view critically with regard to star ratings.

Economic Factor Stars: What Restaurateurs Say

"Viele Gäste wissen, dass man negative Bewertungen löschen lassen kann und gute erstellen lassen kann, von daher ist es kein wertvoller Kompass", says David Canisius, operator of a Berlin restaurant. Stefan Schneck, head of the Berlin chain "Schnitzelei," likewise sees the image of his establishments shaped by the competition for stars: "Wir sind gut. Aber wir sind nicht perfekt." Both examples show how much online image has become an economic factor.

Eike Hoffmann of the restaurant chain Mongo's emphasizes that online reputation has a considerable influence on perception – and thus also on jobs. Jürgen Benad, Managing Director of the Dehoga Federal Association, adds: "In Ballungsgebieten spielen Online-Bewertungen oft eine größere Rolle - etwa weil viele Menschen spontan entscheiden und sich schnell orientieren wollen."

Professor Steffen Kroschwald, Director of the Institute for Consumer Research and Sustainable Consumption (vunk) at Pforzheim University, sees this as an economic factor for companies. "Die Bedeutung von Google Bewertungen kann man kaum unterschätzen... Oft ist der erste Blick die Sternebewertung, und die spielt bei Entscheidungen eine maßgebliche Rolle."

Criticism: The Deletion Industry and Overblocking

Kroschwald also warns of a shadow industry: "Es gibt professionelle Dienstleister und Anwaltskanzleien, die Löschverfahren nicht als Fairness-Instrument verstehen, sondern als Geschäftsmodell." Consumers can take action against deletions, but "häufig hätten sie aber nicht die Zeit und nicht die Belege parat, dies zu tun. Das begünstigt Overblocking - also dass am Ende mehr gelöscht wird, als eigentlich gelöscht werden sollte."

Thomas Lerike, Marketing Director of Hotel Palace Berlin, distinguishes his own approach: "Wir melden Bewertungen nur dann zur Entfernung, wenn sie gegen die Richtlinien von Google verstoßen... Etwa bei Spam-, Bot- oder Fake-Bewertungen, nachweislich unwahren Behauptungen oder Bewertungen, die nicht auf einem tatsächlichen Aufenthalt basieren." The Wernigerode restaurateur Michael Wiecker likewise reports that insulting entries and hate speech are reported to Google: "Das haben wir aber erst einmal vor eineinhalb Jahren gemacht."

Overall, the dpa analysis shines a spotlight on the competition for stars online. While Google aims to create more transparency with the new notice, the question remains for guests how meaningful a pure star rating still is.

The article originates from the dpa news channel (dpa:260720-930-409603/1).