Why are my Google reviews disappearing?

February 2025. Google reviews are disappearing left and right.

Why?

First of all, we want to say to all of our customers: The issue is not with Trustmary, and at the moment, we can’t help the situation.

The problem is worldwide and the deletion of reviews is organized by Google itself.

This article includes everything we know about the situation right now, including what Google has said and what we have noticed, plus some speculation.

Why are Google reviews disappearing?

On February 10, Google employee Victoria Kroll commented on the issue:

“We’re aware of an issue affecting some Google Business Profiles, causing some profiles to show lower-than-actual review counts due to a display issue. The reviews themselves have not actually been removed. We’re working hard to resolve this and restore accurate review counts as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and will share updates on this thread as they become available.“

Victoria Kroll, Google (source)

It seems that this is a bug that Google is trying to solve.

Victoria Kroll continues her statement: 

“Before reporting missing reviews, please note that there are several reasons why reviews may be removed from maps. Usually, missing reviews are removed for policy violations like spam or inappropriate content.“

However, not all currently disappearing reviews are fake reviews. We have noticed this ourselves and with our customers.

Is it really a bug?

From here on, this blog is more speculation, as we don’t know anything for sure.

Google’s official explanation seems to be that it is a bug, or that the removed reviews are against Google’s guidelines.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Google has not been transparent in its actions. For example, Google’s ranking factor leak last year makes it difficult to trust everything Google shares publicly.

It’s no surprise people are reading something more into this.

People speculate that this is related to the recent battle against fake reviews, and we think it is a plausible explanation.

Governments are battling fake reviews and Google needs to comply

As we know, the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. has established stricter rules for reviews, and review platforms are trying to comply.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom has investigated fake reviews on Google, and Googe has committed to “rigorous steps to detect and remove fake reviews”.

While this is good progress, difficulties are expected.

Is Google throwing the baby out with the bathwater, accidentally removing authentic reviews? Or is there something about these reviews that makes Google suspicious of them?

What kind of reviews are disappearing?

At the moment, we don’t know much about why certain reviews are removed, but we are striving to figure that out by analyzing the situation.

Once we have more knowledge, we will be able to establish even better guidelines and best practices for collecting Google reviews to prevent these situations in the future.

Here’s what we do know:

5-star reviews

It seems that most disappearing reviews might be 5-star reviews.

This could further prove that the issue originates from Google wanting to remove fake reviews rather than there being a random bug in displaying reviews.

Timing doesn’t matter

There doesn’t seem to be any relation to the time when the review was published. We have noticed older and newer reviews disappearing.

Location?

People online have speculated that the geolocation of the reviewer might affect review removals.

If the reviewer is located far from the business they reviewed, this could be an indicator of a fake review.

We can’t confirm that yet, but if this claim were to be true, online businesses and travel and tourism businesses would most likely be seeing more reviews disappearing than local businesses. Unless Google has been wise enough to take this into account.

Trustmary has no part in it

It doesn’t matter whether the review was collected via a Trustmary survey or imported to Trustmary.

For clarification, Trustmary is essentially just copying your Google reviews when importing them. This process does not grant us any access to your actual Google account.

It is not technically possible for us – to intentionally or unintentionally – remove reviews from your Google Business Profile.

Will the reviews come back?

Victoria Kroll from Google stated that reviews have not been permanently removed.

We are hopeful that reviews will be restored and made public again when Google either resolves the bug or becomes better at recognizing which reviews are real and which are fake.

Naturally, we can’t promise this as we have no control over Google’s actions, but we will stay on top of the situation and report back.

You can also try and report the situation yourself following the below instructions.

What can I do to restore my reviews?

You can report missing reviews to Google by filling out their form.

Read more in Google’s help documentation.

Remember that millions of people are doing the same all over the world, and it will take time for Google to react to the requests. Have patience!

Don’t be reliant on Google

The current situation shows that relying solely on Google reviews is not a good long-term solution.

While Google grants you a lot of visibility and local search rankings, it can as easily take it away.

You need to have first-party reviews that you own, and no one can take them away from you. Solutions like Trustmary help you get such reviews.

Trustmary review page also adds to your online visibility by showcasing your reviews on a strong, search engine optimized page.

Start collecting Trustmary reviews right away 👇 or book a meeting with us.