Who decides what a fair review is?

The platform does. Each platform publishes its rules, and its own staff and software decide whether a reported review breaks them. “Unfair” is not one of the grounds: a harsh or one-sided review from a real customer usually stays up. The business can report a review, and TrustReviews files the reviews a client chooses, but neither of us makes the decision.

Google says it “doesn’t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers” (Report inappropriate reviews). Its Maps user-generated content policy says machine-learning models scan contributions, then either remove content or pass it to “trained operators and analysts” for review. The owner tracks each report in the Reviews Management Tool and can appeal once if Google finds no violation; our guide to Google review appeal statuses explains each status.

Yelp’s moderators evaluate a reported review against its Content Guidelines, and Yelp says it generally allows “users to stand behind what they write” (How do I report a review?). Its removal reasons page names three grounds: an apparent conflict of interest, a review not about the reviewer’s own consumer experience, and inappropriate material. For a conflict of interest, Yelp says suspicion is usually not enough and asks for specific evidence.

Trustpilot’s Guidelines for businesses say it does not remove reviews “just because a business thinks they are unfair or critical.” A flagged review stays visible while Trustpilot investigates, unless it was flagged as harmful or illegal. If Trustpilot needs the reviewer to change the review or provide documentation, it gives them three days to act. Trustpilot also tells businesses to flag five-star reviews for the same reasons as one-star reviews.

Whether a review is false is a separate, legal question. A court decides whether a statement is defamatory, and Google takes reports of content that breaks local law through its Legal Removals route. Our guide on suing over a fake review covers that law in general terms.

Our part is the filing. You choose which reviews we file, and our filing team files each one with the platform under its own policy. The TrustOS portal then shows the platform’s outcome as Removed or Could not be removed, and a person checks every removal before we count it. You pay for the ones that come down. For signals an owner can check, read how to tell a review is not genuine.