Google Maps won't allow reviews on police stations, prisons; announces new measures to misinformation

Google has recently announced measures to prevent fake reviews and other policy-violating content on its widely used mapping platform, Google Maps. As Google Maps receives over 20 million contributions daily, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the information shared on the platform is crucial.

Google stated that upon detecting suspicious activity, the company swiftly implements protective measures, including removing policy-violating content, temporarily disabling new contributions, or even taking down the affected location’s rating function.

They take proactive measures to protect locations susceptible to targeting. During elections, the company restricts the ability to modify factual details about polling stations, preventing the spread of election-related misinformation. With elections looming in several Indian states, Google’s measures can be advantageous.

Google also mentioned that they impose longer-term protections on places where user contributions have consistently proven unhelpful, harmful, or off-topic. This includes places individuals visit without choice, such as police stations and prisons.

And finally, contributions to certain places are not accepted. For example, a user attempting to write a review for a prison may encounter a notification explaining the company’s policies and providing a link for further information. Even in cases where restrictions are in place, users can still access essential information like addresses, phone numbers, and websites.

Google’s implementation of these steps can prevent scams and protect users. However, a recent implementation of a new color scheme received negative feedback from users.