Last year, one of LocalClarity's large enterprise clients was surprised that their already strong review volume suddenly tripled in a single day. Google, without notifying the brand, decided to ask customers who had recently visited their locations for a review.

We saw the underlying data change dramatically. Reviews tripled, the average review score increased from 3.85 to 4.11, and the percentage of 5-Star reviews increased significantly.

However, we also saw the percent of reviews with customer comments dropped from 65% to 48%. The majority of customers who were asked to rate their recent experience simply clicked on a star and chose to not provide a comment.

At the exact one year anniversary of the review spike, Google turned off the direct request. The volume of reviews dropped back down to the original levels (although still up 20% year-over-year). This pause lasted for two weeks and then started again and has continued since.
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It would be wonderful if Google provided control (or even notice) to brands directly, but so far this is not a functionality they are will to share.