A colleague retailer recently experienced someone posting a negative review for their business based on an incident that had occurred more that a year prior.
The review was unfair given that it related to a customer complaining about the business following the public health mask guidelines at the time.
The reviewer used an email address that does not work and did not use their real name.
The review was clearly posted to harm the reputation of the newsagency, and done so anonymously.
I have seen plenty of local retail businesses unfairly attacked through Google reviews. It’s time Google provided a transparent process for managing them, to ensure fairness for all concerned.
In my own case I have had a couple of different people using fake names, and who were never customers, post negative reviews for my software company.
That Google allows anonymous reviews to be posted and does not engage in reasonable discussion as to the facts as claimed in a review damages the reputation of reviews overall. The company needs to provide checks and balances given the commercial harm that negative reviews can cause.