Google confirmed in October 2026 that review removal appeals on Business Profiles are delayed again and that it cannot say when pending cases will be decided. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 20 October 2026 that a Google representative posted in the Google Business Profile Help Community that "due to high volume of review related appeals, processing times are currently extended." Google also told owners not to file duplicate appeals. If a fake one-star review is sitting on your profile right now, it may stay there for a while. What you do in the meantime matters more than the appeal.
What exactly did Google announce?
According to Search Engine Roundtable's write-up, Google's statement had three parts. First, processing times are extended because of appeal volume. Second, "we are working diligently to process all cases." Third, "as of this time, we cannot provide a specific response timeframe for pending cases." The practical instruction was simple: once an appeal is in, no further action is needed, and you should not submit another one for the same review.
This is not new behaviour. Search Engine Roundtable notes that Google has reported similar appeal backlogs before. For a UK owner, the takeaway is that appeal speed is not something to rely on. It slows down regularly.
How does the Google review appeal process actually work?
Google's help page on removing reviews from your Business Profile sets out the steps. You report a review from your profile or through the Reviews Management Tool and choose a reason, such as spam or profanity. Google says the evaluation "typically takes several days." The tool then shows a status: decision pending, report reviewed with no policy violation, or escalated with the outcome sent by email.
If the first verdict says no violation, you can submit a one-time appeal. You select the eligible reviews, up to 10 at once, and fill in a form. If Google then finds a breach, the review is removed. If not, it stays live. It is the escalated stage that is now backed up.
Two details catch owners out. Google says plainly that you should not report a review "just because you disagree with it or dislike it," and that it does not mediate disputes between businesses and customers. Extortion attempts involving negative reviews also have their own separate reporting process, so do not push those through the standard appeal.
Who is most affected by the delay?
A café with 900 reviews barely notices three fake one-stars. A mobile mechanic, a dog groomer or an independent physio with 40 reviews does. The fewer reviews you have, the more each one shifts the average, and the longer a fake review sits there, the more prospective customers see it.
Trades and local services are the most exposed. These businesses often get most of their calls straight from the local panel, and many customers pick between two or three nearby options largely on star rating. If you are in that position, the delay is a revenue problem, not an admin one.
What does a fake review cost a small UK business while it waits?
Here is an illustrative example using assumed figures, not data from any of the sources above. A plumber in Leeds has 46 reviews averaging 4.7 stars. Overnight, three one-star reviews appear from accounts with no matching job records.
- Before: 46 reviews at 4.7, a total of 216.2 stars.
- After: 49 reviews, a total of 219.2 stars, so 4.47 on average, which displays as 4.5.
Say the profile normally brings 60 calls a month, 40% of calls become jobs, and the average job is worth £280. That is 24 jobs and £6,720 a month from Google. If the lower rating cuts calls by 10%, that is 6 fewer calls, about 2.4 fewer jobs and roughly £670 a month lost. Over a six-week appeal wait, the total is close to £1,000.
Change the assumptions for your own business. The point is that the cost depends far more on how quickly you add genuine reviews than on when Google rules on the appeal. Five new genuine five-star reviews in that period would lift the plumber from 4.47 to about 4.52, and the fake reviews matter less with every genuine review that follows.
Should you report, appeal, reply or ignore a review?
Use this checklist for each problem review:
- Is there a demand for money or a threat? If yes, it is an extortion case. Use Google's separate extortion reporting process, not the standard flag.
- Is there no matching customer, or clear evidence of a competitor, ex-employee or spam pattern? If yes, report it with the most accurate reason.
- Did Google say there was no policy violation, and you still have evidence? If yes, use your one-time appeal. Bundle up to 10 of your strongest cases together. If you are not sure, wait until you have more evidence, because you only get one go.
- Is it a genuine customer who is harsh, unfair or wrong? Do not report it. Reply calmly with the facts and offer to resolve it offline. A process for handling complaints, like the one in this guide to AI-assisted complaint handling for UK businesses, helps you reply consistently.
- Did a genuine positive review disappear? That is likely Google's spam filter. Its help page says to contact support in that case.
- Already appealed? Stop. Google has asked for no duplicates. Check the status weekly.
What does UK law say about how you respond?
The Competition and Markets Authority published its fake reviews guidance (CMA208) in April 2025, covering the legal changes introduced that month. Its short guide for businesses lists three types of banned content: fake reviews, reviews that conceal that they were incentivised, and false or misleading review information such as overall ratings based on fake reviews. It also says businesses must not write or commission fake reviews.
This matters when a fake one-star feels urgent. Offering a hidden discount for five-star reviews, or asking friends to post as customers, is exactly what the guidance targets. If you show reviews on your own website, the guide also expects a published policy that prohibits fake reviews, a regular risk assessment and processes to detect and act on banned content. If you are planning to add reviews to your website, build those steps in from the start.
Is the delay a reason to change how you collect reviews?
Most small businesses collect reviews in bursts: a push after a quiet month, then nothing. That leaves the average exposed. A better pattern is to ask every customer at the same point, such as when the invoice is paid or the appointment ends, with a direct link to your review form.
Ask everyone, not just customers you expect to be happy. Google's review policies prohibit selectively soliciting positive reviews, and cherry-picked requests often backfire because the reviews look uniform. A business adding six to ten genuine reviews a month will barely notice an occasional fake one. That is also what a structured reviews programme is built to do: make the request automatic so it does not depend on someone remembering.
What should you do this week?
- Monday: Open the Reviews Management Tool and note the status of every flagged review. Do not resubmit anything already escalated.
- Tuesday: Reply publicly to each suspected fake review. Keep it short and factual, for example: "We have no record of a customer by this name or a job on this date. If you did use us, please call the office so we can look into it." No accusations, no anger.
- Wednesday: For reviews you have not appealed yet, write down your evidence: job records, dates, any connection to a competitor or former employee, repeated wording across reviews. Only appeal once the case is strong.
- Thursday: Set up an automatic review request sent to every customer within 24 hours of the job finishing. Check that it offers no hidden incentive.
- Friday: Post a Google update and refresh your photos. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 19 October 2026 that Google appears to be testing a higher position for Posts on the local panel, which would give recent activity more space next to your reviews.
What are the trade-offs and limits here?
Some owners worry that replying draws attention to a fake review. In practice, an unanswered one-star tends to look worse to a prospective customer than a measured reply that shows you check your records. The other trade-off is the one-time appeal: using it early on weak evidence wastes it. Wait until your case is strong.
Also accept that some fake reviews will stay. Google only removes reviews that break its policies, and its decision is final once the appeal stage is complete. The owners who come through these backlogs well are the ones whose profile is busy enough that one bad review is a small part of the picture.
Google Review Appeals Delayed Again — FAQ
How long will a Google review appeal take right now?
Nobody outside Google knows. In the Help Community post reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 20 October 2026, Google said processing times are extended because of high appeal volume and that it cannot give a specific timeframe for pending cases. Google's help page says the first evaluation of a flagged review typically takes several days, but that refers to the initial report, not the appeal stage. Plan on weeks, not days, and build your response around that. Reply publicly to the review, collect fresh genuine reviews from recent customers, and check the Reviews Management Tool once a week rather than daily. Do not file a second appeal for the same review, because Google has specifically asked people not to create duplicates.
Should I submit a new appeal if I have heard nothing?
No. Google's guidance in the October 2026 announcement was explicit: do not create a duplicate appeal, and once an appeal is submitted no further action is needed. The appeal route in the Reviews Management Tool is also a one-time option for each review that was found not to break policy, so you have one shot. Use it carefully by bundling the strongest cases, up to 10 reviews per appeal, with clear evidence such as no matching customer record, a competitor connection or identical wording across several reviews. Then leave it alone and check the status in the tool, which will show it as escalated while it waits for a decision by email.
Can I ask happy customers for reviews to dilute a fake one?
You can ask genuine customers for honest reviews, and it is the most reliable way to protect your rating while appeals stall. Ask every recent customer, not only the ones you expect to be positive, because Google's own review policies prohibit selectively soliciting positive reviews. What you must not do is hide an incentive. The CMA short guide for businesses, published on gov.uk alongside its fake reviews guidance, lists concealed incentivised reviews as banned content, along with fake reviews and misleading rating information built on them. So no undisclosed discounts, free extras or prize draws in exchange for reviews, and never buy reviews or ask friends to post as customers. Make the request part of your normal job completion process so it happens consistently.
What if a genuine review from a real customer has disappeared?
That is a different problem from the appeal backlog. Google's help page on removing reviews says it uses automated spam detection and that the system may occasionally remove legitimate reviews by mistake. In that case Google's advice is to contact support, not to use the flagging and appeal route, which is designed for reviews you want taken down. Keep a record of the customer's name, the date of the job and a screenshot if you have one. If several real reviews vanish at once, look at how you are asking for them, for example customers posting from your shop's Wi-Fi or a shared device, which can look unusual to spam filters.
Is it worth paying a review removal service while Google is slow?
Be cautious. A third party has no faster access to Google's appeal queue than you do, and the official process is the same Reviews Management Tool that is free to use. Google's help page is clear that only reviews breaking its policies can be removed and that disagreeing with or disliking a review is not grounds for reporting. Any service promising guaranteed removal of reviews that are simply negative is selling something Google does not offer. Your money is usually better spent on a consistent process for collecting genuine reviews and on writing calm, factual public replies to the fake ones, which protects you whatever the appeal outcome.
