Have you ever been fired from a job, or quit because you felt like you could no longer stand working at a particular company? We’re sure that many people have gone through this before, and it also might seem tempting to talk trash about your former employee, such as leaving negative reviews or feedback about the business in question.
Safe to say that such reviews might be biased and unfair, which is why Google wants to take it out of the equation. Initially discovered by Search Engine Land (via 9to5Google), Google has updated its guidelines in the Maps’ help center where they state that posting negative reviews about a current or former employment experience (note that isn’t just limited to Google) is considered a conflict of interest, which basically blocks such reviews from being posted.
We’re sure that some reviews of that manner will be posted from time to time, but the new policies means that Google is serious about trying to cut through the noise and only keep legit and helpful reviews around. Prior to this, users had to submit reports and requests to Google to take down such reviews, which 9to5Google claims was hit or miss as Google did not really have a guideline for such reviews, at least until now.
For most users this might not make much of a difference, but for businesses where fake negative reviews can hurt them badly, this should come as good news.
Filed in . Read more about Google and Social Hit.