E12: Anonymous Google Reviews, SEO Imposter Syndrome, & NEW Google Help Vid

will this increase fake reviews?

November 25, 2025

This is huge news!

Last week, Google announced that anonymous reviews are rolling out globally this month.

Users will be able to leave reviews anonymously by setting a custom display name and photo on their Google profile.

There are two ways to look at this from a local SEO perspective:

  1. On the one hand, this might increase the fake Google review problem (for obvious reasons).

  2. On the other hand, it could increase the number of reviews some business categories get — especially ones where privacy is currently stopping people from sharing their feedback publicly (think therapists, medical services, etc).

I think the second point is the reason Google is making this change.

Claire and I discuss this in more detail on today’s episode of the Whitespark Local Update, plus:

  • The new Google Business Profile support video (Lisa Landsman)

  • Google's “Raise the Bar” webinar

  • The new “Let Google Call” button (Greg Sterling)

  • SEO Imposter Syndrome in an AI era (Elizabeth Linder)

  • Mining competitor reviews with Gemini (Anthony Kettaneh)

Watch the new episode here 👇️

🎧 Or if you prefer listening, find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

P.S. If you like the podcast, click all the buttons and leave us an Apple Podcasts review. Anonymous or not, we appreciate it 🙏

Darren