Google reveals new Maps features to protect against fake content

Google made a lot of changes to Maps to prevent people from submitting policy-violating content to its app. Considering that more than 300 million people share their experiences on Google Maps yearly, this feels like a very important mission for the Mountain View company.

Today, Google announced three new ways it plans to stop fake content from being submitted. The first one involves constant monitoring of contributed content and detecting any unusual patterns.

When such content is detected, Google promises to act fast and implement protections to prevent further abuse, such as taking down the fake content or temporarily disabling new contributions.

Furthermore, Google says that it’s now focusing on preventing abuse ahead of sensitive moments like elections or other important events. The company is proactively protecting places during times when there’s an uptick in off-topic and unhelpful content by limiting the ability for people to suggest edits to phone numbers, addresses and other factual info to help avoid the spread of misinformation.

Last but not least, Google will not allow Maps reviews for specific places like prisons and police stations. These places benefit from longer-term protections since user contributions are consistently unhelpful, harmful, or off-topic.

If a user is trying to write a review for a prison on Google Maps, they will be met with a notification banner that informs them the functionality is turned off with a link to learn more about the company’s policies.