Google has removed multiple negative reviews targeting a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This is the same outlet of the popular fast food retail chain from where a suspect involved in the killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson was arrested. The negative reviews about this McDonald’s store started appearing after 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was identified and reported to police by a customer while he was eating at the same outlet.
What Google said about removing the McDonald’s reviews
“These reviews violate our policies and have been removed,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
According to the company’s policy, review contributions “should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business.” Google also noted that any “content that has been posted from multiple accounts to manipulate a place’s rating” will be removed.
What is review bombing
These one-star reviews were an example of “review bombing,” which happens when an establishment is flooded with numerous negative reviews due to a political stance or an incident unrelated to its business.
For instance, one of the reviews (seen by the news agency Reuters) said, “this location has rats in the kitchen that will make you sick and your insurance isn’t going to cover it.”
The murder of the insurance executive seemed to have sparked a surge of frustration among Americans who have experienced denied health insurance claims or care, unexpected expenses, or rising premiums and medical costs—some trends that recent data shows are on the rise, Reuters reported.
As per the report, Americans who have seen their health insurance claims or care denied, faced unexpected costs or had to pay more for premiums and medical care have surfaced after the insurance executive’s death, Recent data also shows a rise in such insurance-related trends, the report added.
Last week, American insurance company UnitedHealth’s CEO Brian Thompson was shot outside a Manhattan hotel by a masked man. The suspect seemed to wait for his arrival before firing at him from behind and fled the scene riding a bike into Central Park. He was later captured on surveillance video leaving the park and taking a taxi to a bus station in northern Manhattan. Police said that he boarded a bus from there to escape the city.