Understanding the New Flagging System Updates

Evolving Review Moderation: A Smarter, More Transparent Flagging Experience

At ResellerRatings, trust has always been at the center of everything we build. Every review represents a real customer experience, and every moderation decision impacts both shoppers and merchants alike.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be rolling out one of the largest updates to our review flagging and moderation experience in years. These changes are designed to make moderation more consistent, easier to understand, and more focused on resolving customer concerns—not simply removing reviews.

Changes happening

1. Product Review Flags and Brand Review Flag reason codes are now unified

2. New Flagging acknowledgment pop-up to help educate flaggers or contested reviews

3. New feedback from Transparency and Content Moderation teams on how a flag was adjudicated

Why We’re Making These Changes

As our platform has evolved, we’ve identified opportunities to simplify moderation for merchants while creating a more transparent experience for shoppers.

Over time, our flagging options, moderation policies, and review workflows have grown independently. While each served its purpose, there were instances where terminology overlapped, certain flagging reasons were difficult to interpret, and merchants weren’t always guided toward the best outcome.

Our goal is to create a moderation experience that’s predictable, consistent, and centered around building trust.

1. Start with the purpose of the update 0:00

• The flagging system is being updated to make it more transparent and easier to understand.

• The goal is to help people better understand:

  • When to flag

  • Why a flag should be used

  • What happens after a flag is submitted

2. Review the new guidance before flagging 0:16

• When you click on Flags, you’ll now see a notice reminding you that communication should come first.

• Before flagging, users should:

  • Reach out to the customer through direct message

  • Ask the reviewer to revise the review if appropriate

• Flags are meant for genuine content violations, not simple disagreements.

3. Use the reason pop-up to understand the flag 0:32

• After selecting a flag reason, a new reason pop-up appears.

• This pop-up explains:

  • Why that flag reason exists

  • When it should be used

  • When it should not be used

• It also shows the likely outcome of the flag, so users know what may happen next.

4. Understand the possible outcomes of a flag 0:43

• The system now explains that different reviews may be handled differently:

  • Some may be redacted for bad language

  • Some may be removed completely for policy violations

  • Some may be sent back to the reviewer if there is a star rating error

• This helps set expectations for why a review may or may not be removed.

5. Acknowledge the guidance before submitting a flag 1:17

• Before completing the flagging process, you must click an acknowledgement box.

• This confirms that you understand:

  • What the flag is for

  • What it is not for

  • That you are using it appropriately

• Once you’ve acknowledged it and submitted a flag, the same review cannot be flagged again.

6. See transparency updates when a flag is rejected 2:00

• If a flag is rejected and the review remains active, you’ll now see a message from the Transparency and Content Team.

• This message explains:

  • Why the flag was disapproved

  • Why the review was considered valid or invalid

• The goal is to provide more context and clarity around moderation decisions.

7. Expect more flagging improvements in the future 2:45

• More updates are coming soon, including:

  • The ability to contest a flag more than once

  • A new set of flag types

• These future changes will expand how the flagging system works and will be shared later.

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