You may notice that some images from Google reviews display as broken links in your widgets. This happens when Google returns a 403 Forbidden error for the image, preventing it from loading properly.
What's happening
When you import Google reviews using Senja's auto import feature, some reviewer profile photos or review images may appear as broken image icons instead of displaying correctly. This occurs because Google's servers return a 403 Forbidden error when the image is requested.
Why this happens
The 403 error is generated by Google, not by Senja. Several factors can cause Google to restrict access to review images:
Image permissions: The original image may have been made private by its owner or removed from Google's servers
Rate limiting: Google may temporarily restrict access to images to prevent excessive requests
Internal policies: Google's internal systems may block certain images based on their own content or security policies
This is a known limitation that affects many applications using Google's review data, not just Senja.
What we cannot control
Since this issue originates from Google's servers, Senja cannot:
Force Google to serve the images
Fix or prevent the 403 errors
Access alternative versions of the restricted images
Predict which images will be affected
The availability of Google review images is entirely dependent on Google's systems and policies.
Expected behavior
You should expect this limitation when using Google reviews in your widgets:
Some images will display correctly while others appear broken
The pattern is not predictable - it varies by review and time
Text content from reviews remains unaffected
The overall functionality of your widget continues to work normally
Alternative approaches
If consistent image display is important for your use case, consider these alternatives:
Collect testimonials directly
Instead of relying solely on Google reviews, collect testimonials directly from your customers. This gives you full control over the content and images.
Use multiple review sources
Import reviews from multiple platforms to diversify your testimonial sources and reduce dependence on Google reviews alone.
Focus on review content
The most valuable part of any review is the written content. Consider designing your widgets to emphasize the review text rather than profile images.
Troubleshooting your widget
If you're experiencing other issues with your widget display, check our widget troubleshooting guide to ensure the problem isn't related to other technical factors.
For widget-specific display issues on mobile devices, see our guide on why widgets don't display on mobile.
Remember: This is a limitation of Google's image serving, not a problem with your Senja setup. The broken images don't affect the functionality of your widgets or the display of review text content.