As of April 30, 2025, Google has officially removed all reviews and ratings from general education school listings on Google Search and Google Maps. This significant update from Google Business Profiles is already in effect and impacts thousands of schools globally.

Schools categorized under “general education”—including elementary, middle, and high schools—no longer display historical reviews or allow new ones to be submitted. Google confirmed this move was made to protect institutions from prank reviews and unhelpful content, a growing issue that has drawn concern from educators and administrators alike.

“All existing reviews and ratings for your school have been removed, and users can no longer submit new ones,” Google explained in its announcement. The company cited the need to curb abuse of the review system by bad actors, ensuring school reputations aren’t damaged unfairly.

This change does not affect preschools, colleges, universities, vocational institutions, or postgraduate schools. Only Business Profiles classified specifically as “general education” have been affected.

Interestingly, schools that wanted to retain their reviews had the option to change their Business Profile categorization before the April 30 cutoff. Profiles not labeled as “general education” were able to maintain their ratings and reviews.

The update, initially shared by Vinay Toshniwal and Chris Jackson (the SEO Priest) on X, has sparked wide discussion in both the education and digital marketing communities.

While some welcomed the move as a step toward protecting schools from digital harassment, others expressed concern over the loss of valuable feedback and public trust indicators.

For schools, this marks a new chapter in online reputation management—one where quality education will have to speak louder than online star ratings.