This article was submitted by Elouise Massa, Chief Operating Officer, Ardent Communications.
As of 30 April 2025, Google implemented a significant policy change affecting how schools appear on Google Business Profiles. The update specifically targets general education institutions serving students aged 6 to 18 and directly impacts how reviews and ratings are handled on Google Maps and Search.
Why the Change?
According to Google, this decision was made to protect schools and consumers from unhelpful, harmful, or off-topic content. User-generated contributions for certain types of locations—particularly general education schools—have been found to regularly fall short of community standards. As a result, Google is limiting or suspending reviews and ratings for these profiles.
This includes:
- Removal of all existing reviews and star ratings from affected school profiles.
- Disabling of new reviews, meaning users will no longer be able to leave feedback via Google.
The decision applies only to institutions categorised as general education schools (typically covering primary to secondary education, ages 6–18). Other institutions such as universities, early childhood centres (e.g., daycare), and specialist providers (e.g., swim schools) are not impacted and will continue to display and collect reviews.
What This Means for Your School
If your institution falls under the general education category:
- All existing Google reviews and star ratings for your school will be removed.
- New reviews will no longer be accepted on your Google Business Profile.
- Prospective parents or students searching for reviews via Google may no longer see the feedback that was previously available.
While this may initially seem like a loss of visibility, it also reduces the risk of reputational harm caused by inaccurate or inappropriate reviews—something many schools have faced in the past.
Is Any Action Required?
For most schools, no immediate action is needed, aside from confirming that the Google Business Profile is correctly categorised. If your school is mistakenly labelled in a way that could lead to inappropriate application of the policy—or exclusion from it when you shouldn’t be—you may wish to review your listing and make adjustments.
While reviews may still be visible for some Australian schools at the time of writing, we expect Google to remove them progressively in the coming days.
Final Thoughts
This policy shift marks a clear distinction between the expectations for feedback on commercial versus educational entities. While it may limit some forms of public sentiment tracking, it also alleviates the burden of managing potentially unfair or off-topic reviews.
For schools that wish to maintain feedback channels, we recommend encouraging testimonials through official channels—school websites, newsletters, or independently verified platforms where moderation and context can be better managed.
Want to ask questions or find out more?
If you have questions or concerns about your school’s profile or your digital marketing, please contact Ardent Communications.
