After going to the worst restaurant ever, based on an awesome google review, (4.7 stars with close to 2,000 reviews) I started to look into the issue more.
And, wow, the whole thing stinks.
The problem is a lot more than fake reviews.
It’s extortion on small business by scammers leaving multiple, fake, bad reviews and offering to only remove them if paid!
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/google-review-restaurant-extortion-scam
h/t Jay3