How we kept information on Maps reliable in 2021

Verifying photos, videos and reviews on Business Profiles

As the world reopened throughout 2021, people relied on Google Maps reviews to get the information they needed about places before visiting them — like what health and safety protocols were enforced or if there was outdoor dining and open spaces.

However, we also saw individuals and groups attempt to use fake reviews as a tactic to hurt local businesses — oftentimes spurred by public attention on differences in opinions. In 2021, to prevent violative content from appearing on Google Business Profiles, we put protections on over 100,000 businesses after detecting suspicious activity and abuse attempts. Here’s what else we did in 2021 in our efforts to keep the content in Google Maps reliable:

• We blocked or removed more than 95 million policy-violating reviews, over 60,000 of which were taken down due to COVID-related instances.
• We took down more than 1 million reviews that were reported directly to us.
• As a result of continued advancements in our machine learning, our technologies and teams blocked or removed more than 190 million photos and 5 million videos that were blurry, low quality, or violated our content policies.

Local knowledge that our global community contributes is a huge part of what makes Google Maps more than a navigation tool. We’ll continue to invest in keeping this information fresh and reliable so you can discover information about the world around you.

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