Google Maps Will Let You Hide Your Identity When Writing Reviews (pcmag.com)
- Reference: 0180209833
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/11/25/2221221/google-maps-will-let-you-hide-your-identity-when-writing-reviews
- Source link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-maps-will-let-you-hide-your-identity-when-writing-reviews
> Four new features are coming to Google Maps, [1]including a way to hide your identity in reviews . Maps will soon let you use a nickname and select an alternative profile picture for online reviews, so you can rate a business without linking it to full name and Google profile photo. Google says it will monitor for "suspicious and fake reviews," and every review is still associated with an account on Google's backend, which it believes will discourage bad actors.
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> Look for a new option under Your Profile that says Use a custom name & picture for posting. You'll then be able to pick an illustration to represent you and add a nickname. Google didn't explain why it is introducing anonymous reviews; it pitched the idea as a way to be a business's "Secret Santa." Some users are nervous to publicly post reviews for local businesses as it may be used to track their location or movements. It may encourage more people to contribute honest feedback to its platform, for better or worse.
Further reading: [2]Gemini AI To Transform Google Maps Into a More Conversational Experience
[1] https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-maps-will-let-you-hide-your-identity-when-writing-reviews
[2] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/05/2254235/gemini-ai-to-transform-google-maps-into-a-more-conversational-experience
Features which should have been core (Score:4, Insightful)
This should have been an option from the very inception of Google reviews. It's why you get so many fake reviews because genuine users, or at least those with a healthy amount of common sense, are reluctant to leave their name online and make themselves a target.
The conversation between viewers and Google should always go like this:
- Is this user verified?
- Yes.
- What's their name?
- Not your business.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Here's my review of your post: you sound like a giant douche.
Re: (Score:3)
> Google reviews are just like Amazon reviews and anywhere else. They're crap and mostly astroturfed by the company themselves.
> Adding anonymous reviews won't improve review quality. It'll just leave small businesses unable to defend themselves or respond to random Karens who didn't feel they were treated special enough.
> I love seeing bad reviews where the small businesses owner responds and we find out the reviewer was some Karen making shit up or not telling the whole story. This new review system will just encourage more Karens to destroy small local businesses but leave owners unable to respond if they don't know who the Karen is.
I dislike the idea of people leaving reviews while being to cowardly to sign their name (or pseudonym):
-When a reviewer's ID is attached to their review, their friends and family can see what they had to say: if you are foul-mothed or just rude, your grandma and your potential girlfriend can see it (not automatically, but it is there if they they care to look).
-It can also lend weight to a review. If BobSmith24 says they had a great time, and you personally know BobSmith24, you may actually trust the revie
Online reviews are bullshit. (Score:3)
I had the misfortune of working for a company that tied their bonuses and employment evaluations based on this five-star record crap. This was in medicine. So my "approval" was based on stupid shit like how satisfied they were with the front desk staff, which I explicitly had no control over. Then a bunch of the senior members in the corporation were gaming the situation, doing things like hijacking the dumbass messages that they sent to patients(*) that most didn't respond to.
* -- The system that they had would keep a log of all text messages sent to patients. As soon as the patient was discharged, it would send a text message to the patient asking them for an evaluation. These clowns would hijack it and give a 5-star review. If the patient actually bothered to respond to it, it would then say something like "Thank you for your review" and not even prompt them. They used this to scam the entire system.
And yes, this place was an utter shithole to work in, and it's the only place in my history that I actually went out of my way to get myself fired. If I'd quit, they had a clause that I had to pay $30,000 if I didn't give a 90 day notice. (I kid you not.) To this day, they are still posting ads trying to snare people for about 50% of the market rate for physicians.
The entire idea of the 5-star system is stupid. By definition, average would be 3-stars. But try explaining this to the legions of dumbass MBAs running things.
Reviews have become today's info chaff (Score:2)
Everything today is artificial. We are fast approaching a point where the creation of illusion has completely buried the things of value.
I wouldn't trust Google to protect my identity (Score:2)
All it's going to take is a subpoena and that's that. Writing reviews can be dangerous because businesses will cheerfully sue you if you write a bad review. Free speech is nice and all but you're still going to spend thousands of dollars depending yourself in court.
Rental Reviews (Score:3)
If people trust Google to keep them anonymous (which I wouldn't), apartment complex reviews are gonna get a lot more spicy. As it is, you only get reviews from ex-residents and morons.
Enabling bulk blackmail (Score:2)
Spammers already create Google accounts in bulk so they can send you their crap. Now they can also use these accounts to blackmail small businesses that depend on reviews for their survival. "Pay us or we'll flood you with 1-star reviews." This already happens, but allowing people to hide their identities will make it even easier.
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