Google reviews are a popular topic. People get extremely heated over them. Of course, a lot of folks are passionate when Google refuses to remove negative reviews, removes their positive reviews, or when they suspect their competitor has fake reviews. In the past year, I have seen a major increase in review extortion cases. When this scam first started, scammers would message businesses via social media, offering to sell them fake positive reviews. Once Google added the texting feature to the Google Business Profile (GBP) product. Instead of offering to sell the business fake positive reviews, the scammers claim a competitor hired them to post fake negative reviews unless the business pays them. This is a lie. There is no competitor. These messages come from people using WhatsApp, making it difficult to trace them. After the press and media covered the story, Google launched the merchant extortion form. Google has been removing these reviews typically within 48 hours.
I am seeing complaints from business owners who are claiming that Google has placed review blocks on their GBPs. In this thread, a user claimed that Google advised them that they would not be able to receive new reviews for 6 to 8 months. Google is penalizing this business for something outside of its control. There is a side discussion from AverageInside that goes off the rails. Make sure to grab your popcorn for it.
This unnamed business won’t be able to get new reviews for 6 to 8 months. According to the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Study, review recency is important to consumers. The longer this business goes without getting reviews, the bigger the decline in attracting new clients. There is another reason why reviews are important. In a study by Joy Hawkins, she showed how review recency helped a business to increase its map pack rankings after going back to asking for reviews. So not only can this business lose out on potential customers who are looking at their GBP, but the lack of new reviews will destroy their map rankings.
Does Google treat all Review Violations the same?
On Monday, February 23, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable covered one of the emails a business recieved. Google identified a business that was incentivizing reviews. Google warned the business that it could lose the ability to get reviews. The speculation is that this is new. It’s not. I reported a client for offering incentives in exchange for reviews. Everyone who had access to that GBP recieved the email.
What is new is that Google is emailing businesses to advise them that its GBP has lost the ability to get new reviews for 30 days. Google is also placing consumer alerts on these businesses. City Farms Roslindale Weed Dispensary is one of the businesses to receive this warning and lost the ability to get new reviews for 30 days. Google emails businesses that get caught incentivizing for reviews. In the email, Google advises them that they may lose the ability to get new reviews.
Let me reiterate this. A business that did nothing wrong and was extorted by scammers can’t get new reviews for 6 to 8 months, while businesses caught buying reviews lose the ability to get reviews for 30 days, and a business that offered discounts in exchange for reviews may get penalized if they do it again. Make this make sense. It doesn’t make sense to me. This infuriates me, and it should upset you.
