McDonald's
Fast food restaurant · 18 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017, United States · United States
★ 3.6 on Google · 3,744 reviews · View on Google Maps
Manipulation score
CleanCompleted Jul 19, 2026 · 76 reviews flagged
How this score works
The score estimates how strongly this place's review record matches known manipulation patterns, from 0 (no signs) to 100. Verdicts: Clean below 40, Suspicious from 40, Likely Manipulated from 70. It rises with the share of reviews flagged and how suspicious each one is.
- Burst
- — an abnormal spike of five-star reviews in a single day compared to the place's usual pace.
- Low activity account
- — the reviewer has almost no other reviews, photos, or Local Guide history; throwaway accounts look like this.
- Duplicate text
- — the wording is nearly identical to another review of the same place.
Verdicts are statistical estimates based on public review patterns, not accusations.
Review anatomy
Reviews examined
1,000
Flagged
76
8% of examined
Flagged avg rating
3.5★
place average 3.6★
Reviews per month
| Month | Reviews | Flagged |
|---|---|---|
| Dec ’22 | 26 | 2 |
| Jan ’23 | 35 | 2 |
| Feb ’23 | 28 | 0 |
| Mar ’23 | 39 | 2 |
| Apr ’23 | 34 | 3 |
| May ’23 | 36 | 3 |
| Jun ’23 | 37 | 3 |
| Jul ’23 | 28 | 0 |
| Aug ’23 | 39 | 2 |
| Sep ’23 | 24 | 1 |
| Oct ’23 | 33 | 1 |
| Nov ’23 | 29 | 1 |
| Dec ’23 | 34 | 2 |
| Jan ’24 | 37 | 1 |
| Feb ’24 | 26 | 1 |
| Mar ’24 | 30 | 4 |
| Apr ’24 | 26 | 2 |
| May ’24 | 28 | 4 |
| Jun ’24 | 19 | 3 |
| Jul ’24 | 25 | 1 |
| Aug ’24 | 29 | 2 |
| Sep ’24 | 14 | 1 |
| Oct ’24 | 24 | 0 |
| Nov ’24 | 19 | 3 |
| Dec ’24 | 11 | 1 |
| Jan ’25 | 5 | 0 |
| Feb ’25 | 8 | 0 |
| Mar ’25 | 11 | 3 |
| Apr ’25 | 15 | 1 |
| May ’25 | 7 | 1 |
| Jun ’25 | 25 | 2 |
| Jul ’25 | 29 | 5 |
| Aug ’25 | 18 | 0 |
| Sep ’25 | 15 | 0 |
| Oct ’25 | 26 | 3 |
| Nov ’25 | 10 | 2 |
| Dec ’25 | 27 | 4 |
| Jan ’26 | 21 | 1 |
| Feb ’26 | 10 | 1 |
| Mar ’26 | 10 | 0 |
| Apr ’26 | 12 | 2 |
| May ’26 | 11 | 0 |
| Jun ’26 | 15 | 3 |
| Jul ’26 | 15 | 3 |
Rating distribution
Evidence
- burst 3 five-star reviews on 2025-03-26 vs avg 0.3/day weight 1
- low activity account 71 reviews flagged weight 0.8
- duplicate text 2 reviews flagged weight 0.9
Flagged reviews
Exhibit — 2 reviews, near-identical wording
It's McDonald's what can you say
- mark fitz ★★★ 2023-04-27 suspicion 57
- Dobbie Den ★★★★ 2023-06-03 suspicion 57
Showing the 10 most suspicious of 74 remaining flagged reviews.
A. ELVIRA
309 reviews · Local Guide
★★★★★
2025-03-26
Very good. No beer 🍻🍻 What a shame
Fred W
232 reviews · Local Guide
★★★★★
2025-03-26
I needed breakfast. Right on time.
Angie Ayoubi
42 reviews · Local Guide
★★★★★
2025-03-26
Joseph Gonzalez
activity unknown
★☆☆☆☆
2026-07-05
_Angelito
activity unknown
★★★★★
2026-06-30
Juan Merchant
2 reviews
★★★★★
2026-06-19
PnFViBeZ ORashadWin
1 review
★☆☆☆☆
2026-06-12
I waited in line for mad long while they talked about sum random stuff , the worker could see me and didn’t care they just kept talking and I waited 20 min for my food
Nickiesha Palmer
1 review
★★★★★
2026-04-20
Andriy Gura
2 reviews
★☆☆☆☆
2026-04-16
They always forget to give napkins, even though I order it 🤬! Awful service 😠!
Yordy Lisintuña
activity unknown
★★★★★
2026-02-27
Report generated Jul 19, 2026. Reviews change — you can request a fresh investigation.
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