The vunk Institute on TV, Radio, and in the National Press

Through interviews on radio and television, as well as numerous press releases, the vunk Institute has weighed in on the debate regarding the deletion of restaurant reviews on Google. The catalyst for this is a new feature in Google Reviews that makes transparent the number of reviews a business has had deleted in the past. As part of an investigation by the German Press Agency (DPA), the vunk Institute was interviewed on related issues of consumer research and the law. A corresponding DPA press release was picked up nationwide. Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Steffen Kroschwald and Prof. Dr. Felix Buchmann gave an interview for the WDR radio program and a television interview on the news channel n-tv, respectively. 

Radio interview with Prof. Dr. Steffen Kroschwald on WDR5’s “Morgenecho” on July 21, 2026: https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/wdr5/wdr5-morgenecho-interview/audio-hotels-und-gastronomie-die-praxis-bei-google-bewertungen-100.html

TV interview with Prof. Dr. Felix Buchmann, on n-tv on July 20, 2026: https://www.n-tv.de/mediathek/videos/wirtschaft/Betriebe-loeschen-massenhaft-negative-Google-Bewertungen-id31106785.html

Selected press coverage:

- Die Zeit: https://www.zeit.de/news/2026-07/20/loeschen-von-online-bewertungen-was-sind-die-sterne-wert

- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ): https://www.faz.net/aktuell/rhein-main/frankfurt/hessen-viele-gastbetriebe-lassen-google-bewertungen-loeschen-accg-201046008.html

- Spiegel Online: https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/onlinebewertungen-geloescht-was-sind-google-sterne-wert-a-0a1e2bb0-4529-4fef-89d2-729a42d25fcf

- Süddeutsche Zeitung: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/gastronomie-loeschen-von-online-bewertungen-was-sind-die-sterne-wert-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-260720-930-409603

- Tagesspiegel: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/gastronomie-loschen-von-online-bewertungen-was-sind-die-sterne-wert-15856414.html

- Pforzheimer Zeitung: https://www.pz-news.de/wirtschaft/wirtschaft-weltweit_artikel,-Loeschen-von-Online-Bewertungen-Was-sind-die-Sterne-wert-_arid,2360788.html