Malicious Reviews and Defamation on Google Maps: Reporting to Google and the Legal Route in Saudi Arabia

To report a malicious review on Google Maps: open your business profile, press Read reviews, then Report beside the review, choose the reason, then Submit report, and follow its status in the review management tool. Google removes only what breaks its policies. If you think the review amounts to defamation, Article 3 of Saudi Arabia's Anti-Cyber Crime Law has a provision on it, and Google has a legal removal request form.

Notice: this is general information and is not legal advice. Whether a particular review counts as defamation or not is for the competent authorities to assess, and before any complaint or action consult a licensed lawyer in the Kingdom.

A negative review you dislike is not necessarily a malicious one. Google says not to report a review merely because it does not match your opinion or you do not like it, that it does not get involved in disputes between businesses and customers, and that negative reviews are not always a sign of poor service.

First: is it really malicious?

Ask yourself these questions before any step:

1. Did the writer actually deal with you? Check your records (a visit, a booking, an invoice).
2. Does it describe an experience harshly but possibly truthfully? That is an opinion, even if it hurts. Google's policy says it allows content that describes negative experiences respectfully.
3. Does it include serious accusations without evidence, abuse, or personal data about a person?
4. Is the writer a competitor, a former employee, or a relative of either?
5. Did it come in a sudden wave of one-star reviews followed by a request for money or a service?

If the answer is yes to 3, 4 or 5, you are looking at a case that deserves a report. If no, the better route is a professional reply, detailed in the review removal policy and, for answering a negative review, in replying to Google Maps reviews.

Route one: reporting to Google

What Google removes

Google says only reviews that violate its policies are removed. Among what its prohibited content policy names:

• Reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as the poster being linked to the business through current or former work or a family or professional relationship, competitors included.
• Posting about a competing place or business to undermine its reputation or its product's.
• Content not based on a real experience.
• Abusive content, including posting unsupported allegations of unethical behaviour or criminal acts.
• Personal information about another person posted without consent, such as their full name or face in a photo.

The steps to report

These are the steps as Google describes them on its page on reporting inappropriate reviews:

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Click Read reviews.
3. Next to the review you want to report, click Report.
4. Choose the reason for reporting the review; Google's examples include spam or offensive language.
5. Click Submit report.

Google says assessing reviews usually takes several days, and that you can follow the report in the review management tool. The statuses include pending a decision, and report reviewed with no policy violation. If the reported review is not eligible for removal, you can submit a one-time request for reconsideration, selecting up to 10 reviews.

Extortion through negative reviews

Google describes attempted extortion as a serious policy violation, which can include a sudden increase in one- or two-star reviews followed by a demand for money, goods or services to remove them. It advises:

• Do not engage with these people or pay them anything, as that may encourage them and will not guarantee the reviews are removed.
• Collect evidence at once: screenshots of the messages showing date, time and the sender's details, direct links to the suspicious reviews, and when you first noticed the sudden increase.
• Report through the merchant form made for extortion attempts.

Route two: a legal removal request to Google

Google has a page titled "Request to remove content on Google" that helps you reach the right place to report content under its policies or applicable laws. Among the legal reasons is defamation: reporting content that defames you or your business or organisation, usually a false statement that damages reputation. Google says legal standards vary greatly by country or region, and that it usually removes content or blocks users' access to it in the country or region where it is illegal. It notes you can report the same content under the law and under content policies, but each report is submitted separately. We promise no result: the decision is Google's.

Route three: the law in the Kingdom

The text below is from the Saudi laws portal (Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers): the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, issued on 8/3/1428 AH, corresponding to 27/3/2007. We quote it as read on the official site on 20 October 2026 (translated here from the Arabic text).

• Article 3: whoever commits any of the following cybercrimes is punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand riyals, or one of these two penalties, among them defaming others and harming them through the various means of information technology.
• Article 9: whoever incites, assists or agrees with another to commit any of the crimes in the law is punished, if the crime occurs on that basis, with no more than the maximum penalty set for it.
• Article 15: the Public Investigation and Prosecution Authority handles investigation and prosecution of the crimes in this law.

What does this mean in practice? The law provides a penalty for defamation through means of information technology. The article's text sets no definition of defamation and does not mention Google Maps or reviews specifically, and we do not judge that any particular review falls under it. Not every harsh review is defamation: a review describing a real experience sharply differs from a false accusation that damages reputation. That is an assessment for the competent authorities, which is why we repeat: consult a lawyer before any complaint.

Article 3 has other items that mostly have nothing to do with reviews, such as interception and unlawful access, including unlawful access to threaten or blackmail a person. So do not assume that blackmail through public reviews falls under that item unless it involves unlawful access; that too is for specialists to assess.

Documenting the evidence

Whether you choose Google or the legal route, start by documenting:

1. A screenshot of the review showing date, account name, stars and text.
2. A direct link to the review.
3. A screenshot of the report status in the review management tool.
4. Any threatening or money-demanding messages, with date, time and sender's details.
5. Your internal records showing no visit or transaction, if that is what you are saying.
6. Keep a copy off your phone.

The public reply meanwhile

Google advises not sharing any private information about the reviewer and not attacking them personally, asking them to contact you privately, and checking your records of the visit. A calm, brief reply that asks for details and accuses no one:

We could not find anything matching this experience in our records, and we would like to check it. Please contact us through customer service with the date of your visit.

Do not write "we checked our records" unless you did, and do not mention the customer's data in the reply.

Common mistakes

• Reporting every negative review. Google says it does not get involved in disputes between businesses and customers.
• Publicly accusing the writer of being a competitor or a liar without proof. You may put yourself in a position you do not want.
• Offering compensation or a discount to the writer in return for deleting their review. Google's policy prohibits incentives for removing a negative review.
• Writing positive reviews from staff accounts to cover the negative. That is a conflict of interest the policy prohibits.
• Threatening court in the public reply. Leave that to a lawyer, in the proper channel.
• Paying someone who promises to delete reviews.
• Delaying documentation, since a review can be deleted or edited.

In SMTAK you get an in-app alert on a critical review, and the draft reply stays waiting for your decision and is not published automatically. SMTAK does not give legal advice and does not file reports on your behalf.

This content is general information and is not legal advice.