About Defamation Removal Notices
At Google Maps, we are committed to delivering trustworthy and reliable information. Reviews help people make informed decisions, so it's important that they accurately reflect genuine experiences. In light of the high volume of defamation removal requests in Germany, we display a notice on Business Profiles when reviews are removed to provide transparency into our handling of such requests. This notice shows the number of reviews removed from a Business Profile following a defamation complaint under German law.
Defamation under German Law
Besides protecting the reputation of individuals, German law protects a company’s commercial reputation by allowing the company to demand the removal of false factual statements or factually unjustified expressions of opinion that could harm its business standing (“defamation”). German courts have set a low threshold for businesses to challenge reviews as defamatory. Besides proving that a review actually contains a defamatory statement, businesses can also claim that a reviewer was not a customer (for example, they have no record of a transaction). Unless there is evidence to the contrary, courts generally order platforms to remove such reviews.
More information about legal removals can be found here. Information about appealing a review removed due to a defamation complaint in Germany can be found here.
How removed reviews are displayed and counted
To provide clear context at a glance, the total number of review removals resulting from defamation complaints is displayed as a range (for example, "11 to 20 reviews") rather than an exact figure. The displayed range is based on the number of review removals that:
- Resulted from defamation complaints: The count includes reviews removed due to valid defamation complaints under German law. It does not include reviews removed for other legal reasons or policy violations.
- Took place in the last year: The count reflects removals processed in the last 365 days.
- Were not reversed: If a removed review is successfully appealed and reinstated, the removal is not included in the count.
A removal is only counted if it meets all three of the above criteria.
Notice ranges and displayed text
| Removal Range | Displayed Text |
|---|---|
| 1 | One review removed due to a defamation complaint. |
| 2-5 | Two to five reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 6-10 | Six to ten reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 11-20 | 11 to 20 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 21-50 | 21 to 50 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 51-100 | 51 to 100 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 101-150 | 101 to 150 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 151-200 | 151 to 200 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| 201-250 | 201 to 250 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
| More than 250 | Over 250 reviews removed due to defamation complaints. |
Notice does not affect the Business Profile’s ranking
This notice does not influence local ranking or where a Business Profile appears in Google Search or Maps results. To learn more about factors that determine local ranking read the Tips to improve your local ranking on Google article.