When Fake Google Reviews Attack: What It’s Like to Be a Small Business on the Wrong Side of the Algorithm

Running a small boutique travel-agency is supposed to be about creating beautiful trips for our travelers, not fighting bots and broken systems.

Yet here we are.

Week ago, our google business profile page - BLKN Escapes - Private Tours in Croatia & Balkans, a small boutique travel agency based in Zagreb, Croatia - has became the target of what obviously looks like a coordinated fake review attack.

Now, what I belived will be easy, become also very frustrating part about it - its how hard it is get any real help from google.

8+ years of 5* reviews - and then, in a few hours...

For 8 years now, we were working hard for to earn constant 5* ratings from our dear travelers:

• on Private Tailor-Made Tours through Croatia and Beyond

• on Private day-trips, City Tours, Private Transfer-Tours

• slow organic growth (88+ 5* reviews on Google, 500+ 5* reviews on TripAdvisor

We know every single person that has been travelling with us, as we are a small team - and personally meet all of the travelers. Not to mention that we are obliged te keep the records of every guest who traveled with us, every tour, every season.

Then, on November 13, 2025. Just after our busy season ended - something strange happened.

Within few hours only, our profile was flooded with a dozen 1* reviews from some random fake profiles (which our locked as well), describing bad taxi services and experiences, (We are not a taxi company).

If You work with online reputation, You might already know what does it look like...

We reported those to Google...

After a lot of reporting, filling out forms, and opening multiple cases - google emailed us about removing most of them as they are (obviously) violating their policy.

For a brief moment, there was relief...

And then, on the same day - those same comment, from the same profiles, and the same reviews somehow reappeared on our profile...

We checked on different devices, browsers, logged in and logged out.

They were there. Gone. Back again.

For a small business that lives off trust and word of mouth, watching your 8+ years of reputation get whacked around like this is… honestly, brutal.

Few days after, (we also uploaded additional files in cases on google support after they reappeared)

we have received an email from google - that the reviews are removed from our profile (again) as they do not comply with their policy (most of them were gone)...

And You think finally, relief - but it did not last long, as within next few hours those same 1* reviews began to reappear on our profile again. the email address that says everything (noreply@google.com)

• You can’t respond to them.

• You can’t ask a follow-up question.

• You can’t say, “Hey, you removed them but they’re back. Can we talk?”

For us, to reach a human in google os still not possible, as we are only being able to fill up some forms and get generic responses.

For a company the size of Google, it’s shocking how little real communication is available to small businesses whose reputation (and income) depends on the reviews from platforms like google.

If a small boutique travel agency in Zagreb can’t easily talk to anyone, what about the millions of other small shops, guides, cafés, and family businesses around the world?

Fake reviews and their damage

This isn’t just about pride or a number on a screen.

When Fake 1* reviews appear:

• Potential Travelers start questioning themselves: Should I trust this company? Is there something wrong?

• People who do not have time to read details and just move on

• Years of work - early mornings, late nights, long days - are suddenly questioned because few bots clicked a star.

Meanwhile, the people behind these attacks - wheter it's

When fake 1★ reviews appear:

• Potential clients start asking: “Hey, what happened? Is something wrong?”

• People who don’t have time to read details just see a lower rating and move on.

• Years of work building a reputation – early mornings, late nights, long days on the road – are suddenly questioned because a few bots clicked a star.

And honestly, at some point this whole thing stops feeling digital and starts feeling like an action movie plot. You read these fake 1★ reviews from ghost accounts and a small part of you just wants to go full Jason Statham in The Beekeeper – track down whoever’s behind it, kick in the virtual door and say:

“Who thought attacking small businesses for profit was a good idea?”

Unfortunately, real life doesn’t come with fight choreography and dramatic music… so instead of a shotgun, we’re stuck with screenshots, support forms and noreply@google.com

And where is Google in all of this?

Google is very clear that fake reviews are against their policies. On paper, the rules are strong.

In practice, though, as a small business you often feel like:

• You’re screaming into a void of forms and automated replies.

• Your detailed explanations, screenshots and guest lists are being read by a filter, not a person.

• Reviews can be removed… and then mysteriously come back, with no explanation and no way to ask why.

For a platform that earns so much money from local search and business visibility, it’s hard not to ask:

How is it possible that obviously fake, coordinated review attacks are still so easy to execute, and so hard to fix?

Why am I writing this?

I am not writing this to tell that Google is bad or evil, no. We depend on google - most small travel businesses do - people find us there, they read our reviews, they decide wheter to trust with us their holidays based on what they see.

I am writing this because:

• Clients deserve transparency: If You are reading our reviews and see a sudden cluster of strange 1* ratings, You should know that we are actively fighting a fake-review attack and that these accounts have never traveled with us.

• Other small businesses are not alone: If this is happening to You, it is not 'just You being unlucky' - The system is flawed and needs fixing

• Google needs to do better: At a minimum - easier, human access for verified business owners when serious review abuse is happening; Stronger prevention so coordinated attacks do not pass through the net,

What we’re doing in the meantime

While we continue to push Google to act properly, here’s what we’re doing on our side:

1. Responding publicly to suspicious reviews, calmly explaining the situation and that the reviews have been reported to google.

2. Collecting screenshots, timelines and evidence in case we decide to pursue legal action for defamation or unfair competition.

3. Most importantly, asking our real guests – the people who actually travelled with us, were part of our travel story, laughed with us over coffee, during the drive, got soaked in Plitvice rain and toasted rakija in a small konoba – to share their honest experience online.

Because in the long run, no bot, spammer or shady “review agency” can compete with that.

If you’re a past guest reading this and you enjoyed your trip with us, your honest review now means more than ever.

If you’re a future guest: Don’t let a few strange 1★ reviews outweigh the years of stories, smiles and 5★ experiences behind them.

And if someone from Google ever happens to read this:

We’re not asking for miracles. Just for a system where hard-working small businesses are better protected than the bots trying to tear them down.

Aleksandar Vučin - Owner & Founder at BLKN escapes