Review not posted because….?

Hi. After 4 weeks of reviewing, mostly galleries and museums, 4 or 5 stars, owners replying, thanking for the visit and looking forward till the next time, from one day to the next ALL reviews blocked. My sccount shows no restriction, even though the block-details indicate this.

For 50% I received a mail with the possibility to object, and each objection was approved.
I also send a general appeal with no answer till now.

So I have still 5*-churches or art-centers blocked and would like to find out: What am I doing wrong?

Example 1)

*Art, culture, contemporary art, and a garden as a haven of peace above the city center: this is what you will find in the “Sa Nostra” cultural center in this converted 17th century palace. This institution was inaugurated here in 1989 to create a place to promote and disseminate culture, but unfortunately cultural activities were stopped in 2012 when the Obra Social i Cultural Sa Nostra was dissolved.

Since then, only isolated events have been held in collaboration with other associations.

The pictures from one of the last exhibitions.*

Example 2)

*The Museo de Mallorca or “House of the Great Christian”, a state institution in the 17th century city palace “Can Aimans”, was created in 1961 by merging the Marroig collection, the former Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes and other archaeological collections. The focus here is on the departments of archaeology, ethnography, fine arts, decorative and industrial arts.

Here, the arc is drawn from the island’s past with its prehistoric and classical history, insights into the lifestyles of earlier inhabitants of the island, finds from the almost 300-year occupation of Mallorca by the Moors, the geopolitical location of Mallorca and the trade flows up to the present day. Worth seeing.*

Above reviews translated from German to English for this forum by google translate.

Thx

5 Likes

Hi @mwgrkc88
Thanks for sharing the text of two of your blocked reviews.
I would say that both are not showing a “personal” experience of the place. You wrote to interesting “wikipedia style” reviews, with information that we can easily find in the web, and most probably in the website of the listings. What Google wants to know is YOUR PERSONAL experience of the place: How was your visit and your overall experience? Did you have to wait long time before to enter? Was the place crowded? Did you use a guided tour? How was it?
Is this what makes the difference. An experience that only you can share.
Have you tried to edit the reviews to make them personal?

1 Like

Thank you very much. Now that sure makes sense, but the visit is my personal experience, I have been at the place. And if I visit a museum or a gallery, I look up what exhibitions there are and these I also mention.

So I will try to take a step back and just leave a fantastic or it was OK if Google likes that more.

Just what I do not understand; If one review would be too much Wikipedia style why block all 40 reviews.

Have a great evening

1 Like

I am sure you visited the place @mwgrkc88 . I describe exhibitions too, but I try also to add a personal experience of the place, more than a description.
Your second question requires a long explanation, that’s why I wrote a post about it, following the research I did starting from my personal experience.
I too have had reviews blocked (Moderators are not immune to the problem) so I wanted to understand what was happening, and all the legal implications connected to reviews. For example, in your country there are proposed laws (to protect consumers and businesses) that consider the platform that hosts the reviews (for example Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Amazon) directly responsible for verifying any fake review. And there is a market of fake reviews, both positive (scam to customers) and negative (damage to competition). Obviously a platform with millions of people contributing (there are more than 150 million Local Guides in the world) must delegate the verification to an automatic system. A system that must be stringent, that to avoid legal risks prefers to block a real review rather than publish a fake one. If you are interested the full article is here: Your review has not been published. Do you know why?
Fortunately, however, there is also the right of users, of those who write reviews, to see them published.
For this reason, Google has prepared an appeal form, which you can find at the end of this article: An update on how we moderate Google Maps reviews - Google Maps tips & tricks - Local Guides Connect
Before you use it, a few notes:

  • A review can be blocked because one of his components (e.g. a photo) was considered inappropriate. Try to delete the photos and publish the review again. If it is published, add one by one the photo to find the one that is causing the block.
    If in this way the review isn’t published, move to the next step: Appeal
  • The check may take time, in my case I had to wait a couple of months to have my reviews checked
  • Do not modify the review after the appeal is sent. The date of a review is always updated to the last edit, and if the review appears as “more recent” that the submission of the form it will not be checked. So if you want to try to modify the review do it before to submit the appeal
1 Like

Thanks again for your long explanation. It is really hard to “not write the way I write”

I see myself as somebody who is straightforward and I just like facts.
So if I walk a town using Google maps while searching, artgalleries or museums, I would be more attracted by a review pointing out that there are these of those artists on display (what you referred to as “Wikipedia style”) than a review giving five stars and stating they “loved it”.

And concerning your pointing out the strict laws of a year in Europe:
You are perfectly right.

Because I realized that all my European reviews were blocked from one day to another while the ones in the USA were still visible.

I had an appeal running, but I guess I messed this one up as I as you recommended now shortened down most of my reviews So I will wait a couple of days and see if they are blocked again and then maybe start another appeal without touching anything afterwards

Have a great evening

1 Like

You are welcome, @mwgrkc88 , however I would be very careful in declaring

I mean, when a review related to a place located inside the EU is “not published” you will be notified, and you may have the possibility to appeal for that specific review.
But when this happens for a review related to a place located outside the EU, you don’t receive any notification. The review will be visible only in your private profile, without any information that “your review isn’t posted”.
I mean, the filter is working on the same way all over the world, but the notification is given only for reviews about places located inside the EU.
This to comply with the European Law.
I really hope the reviews you wrote in the US are visible. I cannot verify how many hidden reviews you have, because you didn’t share a link to your profile, but I would like to suggest you to check, by opening your profile in incognito mode.