The details
The option was spotted by local SEO practitioners Vinay Toshniwal and Amy Toman and covered on August 14. The report form lists five reasons: off-topic content, profanity, bullying or harassment, discrimination or hate speech, and personal information. There is also a route for legal issues. The coverage does not include a formal announcement from Google.
Our read
This closes a gap. Reviews have long been held to content policies while replies were not. Most owners will never be affected, but the businesses that argue with reviewers in public, or reveal what a customer bought or said, now carry a real risk. Our advice has not changed: thank the reviewer, acknowledge the issue, say what you will do, and move the detail to a phone call. Our answer on responding to negative Google reviews has a template.