[otteromkram]

I don't trust Google reviews anymore, Maps or otherwise.

Look at how many reviews will just be five-star ones, but no text. Or, one or two words quips, like, "great food!"

Negative reviews might also be emotionally driven, some by one-time events, like a to-go order taking too long because of a large office order that preceded it.

When I was apartment shopping, I saw so many "sketchy" reviews on Google and reporting them does nothing. Many would be from people who only toured the place and NEVER actually lived there, or from people who just moved in. Both are useless, but does Google care? No! Hence, my disdain for Google reviews.

[laurynas-s]

It is quite time-consuming to go through the reviews due to this exact reason - 100s of low effort reviews and also fake reviews to hide negative reviews.

https://www.top-rated.online/ re-sorts the reviews (on individual place page) based on reactions and number of reviews user made. It makes it easier to see the full picture and avoid fake reviews.

[alephnan]

We need something like Amazon Fake Reviews but for Google reviews.

Amazon Fake Reviews also stopped being reliable because people figured out how to game it.

[dmortin]

> I don't trust Google reviews anymore, Maps or otherwise.

What do you use as alternative?

[nottorp]

Any review site is kinda worthless.

What you can do is go through the text reviews and try to read between the lines and figure out if the place/item is good for you.

[speedgoose]

Friends, family, and guides like Guide Michelin for me.