If you’ve noticed that a review in your Inbox shows a Processed date that’s earlier than its Published date, don’t worry, this is completely normal! The difference happens because of how time zones are managed between review providers and the TrustYou platform.
Understanding the difference
- Published date: This date reflects the time zone of the review provider’s server or UTC, depending on the source (e.g., Google, Ctrip). Each provider uses its own internal logic, which is not always shared with us.
- Processed date: This shows when TrustYou’s system, based in Europe (UTC), received and stored the review in our database.
Because these two timestamps come from different systems (and often different time zones), small discrepancies can appear.
Example
If a guest in China posts a review on October 10th at 6:00 AM (local time), it’s still October 9th in Europe (UTC) when our system processes and stores that review.
As a result, you may see that the Processed date appears to be earlier than the Published date, even though both are correct in their respective time zones.
Key takeaway
All dates are accurate within their respective time zones. The apparent mismatch is a normal outcome of time zone conversion between global systems and does not affect your review data or metrics that are based on the Published date.