Google Increases Policy Enforcement For Online Reviews
Google reviews have always been a contentious area, especially now with bots and AI. It’s hard to tell when a review is legit. Even when the review is real, is it honest? Google’s recent shift in policy enforcement might change that.
Penny Reviews
A lot of dispensaries have grown accustomed to incentivizing customers to leave (good) reviews on Google in exchange for a penny preroll. A lot of stores also monitor their reviews for budtenders’ names to stress the importance of customer service. If a budtender has a good enough rapport with a customer to convince them to name them in a review, that should speak volumes. That’s no longer the case.
What Google actually allows
You can ask customers for reviews—that’s fine.
You cannot tie anything of value to that review.
What’s explicitly banned
No discounts, free products, gift cards, or perks for leaving a review
No contests, raffles, or sweepstakes tied to reviews
No “leave a review and get X” offers
No filtering for only happy customers (review gating)
They classify this as “fake engagement” and manipulation.
Drone Police
Break the rules and Google strips the signal—reviews disappear, rankings slip, and your profile can get throttled or shut down, with AI now doing most of the policing. The line is simple but unforgiving: you can reward customers, just not for reviews. Tie the incentive to the review and you’re in violation; keep it separate and you stay clean.
