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Google Will Now Email You When It Catches a Spam Review Attack on Your Listing

The Short Answer

Google has rolled out a new automated email, titled “Protecting your Business Profile from spam reviews,” that fires when its systems detect a sudden spike in spam or fake reviews on your listing. When it triggers, Google removes the suspicious reviews on its own and temporarily pauses new reviews for a few days while it sorts things out.

What the Email Actually Says

According to Google’s own wording, the notification tells owners it has “detected a spike in spam reviews on your Business Profile and removed them so they do not affect your Google rating.” It also explains that new ratings, reviews, and user contributions are temporarily paused while the issue is addressed, typically for just a few days.
For most owners, this is genuinely good news showing up as an email: it means Google caught an attack and handled it before it could drag down your star rating. You do not need to do anything for the removal itself to take effect.

The One Thing Worth Watching

Some SEOs covering this rollout have raised a fair concern: the spam filter behind this feature can be aggressive, and it is occasionally triggered by real, fast-growing review activity rather than an actual attack, particularly for newer business locations that are still building up their first reviews. If your reviews get paused and you are confident every one of them was genuine, that is worth following up on rather than assuming it is always correct.

What To Do If You Get One

  • Read it fully first, in most cases this means Google already handled a problem for you and no action is needed
  • If you believe legitimate customer reviews were caught up by mistake, use the "request a review" option included in the email
  • Turn on email notifications for new reviews so you catch a pause or a spike quickly rather than discovering it weeks later
  • Keep asking real customers for reviews at a steady, natural pace, a sudden unnatural-looking spike, even from something as simple as one bulk email blast, is exactly the pattern this filter watches for

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

No, Google says the removed spam reviews do not factor into your rating at all, since the entire purpose of the feature is to protect it from that spam.
Google describes it as typically lasting just a few days while the issue is being addressed.
It can. Some SEOs have flagged the filter as occasionally triggering on genuine, fast-growing review activity, especially for newer locations still ramping up.

Want Help Building Reviews the Right Way?

A steady, natural flow of real reviews is both safer against filters like this one and better for your ranking long-term. Our review management service builds that pattern deliberately instead of leaving it to chance.
See Our Review Strategy Services