A 2023 local consumer review study found that 98% of people read online reviews of local businesses. In fact, reviews and star ratings are usually the first things that appear when someone searches for a business name in Google. Unfortunately, it’s a universal truth that if you run a business, you will undoubtedly have an unhappy customer at some point. Hopefully, people will see your bad reviews are few and far between. They will likely understand that one or two irate reviews are bound to happen.
However, if you have too many bad Google reviews, you should see if you can get some of them removed. Some reviewers are simply incorrect and some reviews violate Google’s policies. Still, it’s not totally black and white when it comes to what you can do about an unfair or fake review. In this post, we’ll dive into the specific situations in which Google will take down a review.
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The 9 Violations That Google Will Remove a Review Over
Google does attempt to make sure all reviews are from real people who’ve had actual experiences with your business. So if you have a negative post about your company that’s incorrect, but technically legitimate, you’ll probably have a tough time taking it down. But what about reviews that make you say, “Come on. This is ridiculous and not fair.” In this case Google has 9 specific violations that allow a business to remove bad, negative, and fake reviews from their listings. By removing reviews that violate Google’s Review Policy, a company can improve its overall rating, climb up higher to page one in Google Search rankings, and avoid scaring off potential customers.
Spam and Fake Reviews
Google is doing all it can to stop people who leave fake reviews. People leave fake reviews for many reasons, including because they’re competitors of yours and they’re trying to drive business from you to them. Sometimes people leave fake reviews because they have a personal beef with you or an employee about a personal matter. And sometimes people leave fake reviews simply because they can.
If you suspect you have received a fake review on Google, flag it. Fake reviews often include strange names. Google requires users to use their real names to leave reviews. So if a name simply doesn’t seem like something a real person would have, flag it. If your business is small enough, you may even have a customer database.
Other signs include generic language that doesn’t detail dates, times, and details like products or specific people. You can often see other reviews a user has submitted. If they posted multiple reviews in a short period of time, and if several of them are identical diatribes against a business like yours, it’s probably fake.
Multiple Negative Reviews From the Same Person
There’s no limit on the number of Google accounts one person can have. So if you have one really irate customer, they could theoretically open several Google accounts and leave negative reviews about your business from each. They can also ask friends, family, and coworkers to use their accounts. Regardless of whether it’s one person with several accounts or one person with a lot of friends and family, it’s against Google’s Review Guidelines to use multiple accounts to leave multiple negative reviews about one experience with a business. So if multiple people are posting about the same experience, on the same day, flag them for removal.
Inappropriate Content, Profanity, Racism, or Other Hate Speech
Any use of inappropriate content or swear words and derogatory racial terms in a review is grounds for removal. This also includes explicit content, offensive content, hate speech, harassment, and bullying. This can be a very powerful tool for you to have a review removed. Often, when someone is angry, they’ll swear and use foul language. Seize the opportunity and flag the review.
Fake Reviews from Competitors
Sometimes businesses take extreme measures to hurt their competitors in the local search results. One nasty way to do this is to leave negative Google reviews in an attempt to destroy a store’s online reputation. If multiple businesses in the same industry and location receive bad reviews from one person in a relatively short time period, it could be a sign the person behind the reviews is an agent of a competitor. Flag it, and provide Google links to the other bad reviews.
The Person Accidentally Left You a Bad Review When they Meant to Give One to a Company With a Similar Name
In the heat of the moment, some angry people may Google a business, find yours, and leave you a negative review when they really meant to leave it for a business with the same name in another place, or one of your competitors. This is easy to spot because they write about products or people that you don’t have. In the case of franchises, it’s very possible that they meant to leave a review for one of your fellow franchise owners and partners instead of you. You can either respond to the reviewer and ask them to remove their message or flag the review with Google.
Leaving Reviews at Locations They Didn’t Visit
If you have a business with multiple locations, a bad experience at one place could cause a customer to go on a revenge-writing spree about every location in an attempt to harm your entire business.
Google’s review guidelines state that a user can only leave a review with a single business location that the person actually visited or used at a single time. It’s pretty unlikely that a customer visited more than one location on the same day and had the same negative experiences at each location. It’s possible, of course, but unlikely. Another clue is the location of the user versus the area of the business. For example, if the user is in California, but they wrote a review about a store in Illinois and Arkansas in the same few days, it’s unlikely each incident happened. Flag that review. Don’t contact the customer asking them to take the reviews down. They’re probably too angry. Let Google deal with it.
Reviews From Current or Former Employees
Whether the review is positive or negative, reviews from current and former employees are against Google’s “Conflict of Interest” policy. This also means that employees of your business aren’t allowed to post reviews about your competitors either. This rule is arguable. For example, if you own a restaurant, your employee technically has the right to post a bad review about a restaurant they visited and had a bad experience at. So if you have a really narrow business niche, like selling soy candles, and a review is posted by an employee of another candle store, you should flag it. But if you own a hamburger restaurant, and a server at another restaurant that happens to also sell hamburgers posts a negative review about your business, Google may not remove it. You can always flag it and see what happens.
Online Reviews From People Who Actually Haven’t Had Direct Experiences With Your Business
If something happens at your store that attracts media attention, that’s great. Well, at least as long as it’s positive press. But in today’s world, what some people may consider “Great” is “Negative” for others. When and if you do something that irritates people on the other side of the spectrum, and they catch wind of it, they may flood your Google reviews trashing your business. However, Google says that only people who have a personal encounter with your business can leave reviews. Anything about what your business does that the media covers and people want to comment on is considered off-topic or unrelated to a user’s personal experience. Google will delete those reviews if you flag them.
Inappropriate Images
People often include photos and videos in their reviews. Most of the time, these are appropriate, but sometimes they are not. Google monitors the visual content uploaded along with the reviews. Images should only depict the experiences being had at the actual location where the customer is leaving the review. They should not contain foul language or any of your own private information, like your cell phone number.
How to Flag a Google Review
For reviews that violate Google’s terms of service, take the following steps:
1. Open Google Maps and Search for your business location.
2. Click to view all of your business reviews. Select “All Reviews”
3. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the review you wish to remove and select “Flag as inappropriate”
4. Fill out the ‘Report a Policy Violation’ form and submit it.
Google will then prompt you through a series of forms to ask if you want to add any additional comments or information.
What If Google Doesn’t Remove the Review?
Sometimes, a review walks the line between Google’s intention to protect a business but also protect users. If Google won’t remove a review, you have the option to write them back, arguing your case further. If Google ends up saying the review will stand, you can respond to customers in the following ways:
Explain Your Side: Negative reviews help companies make improvements. Say sorry, if necessary, and explain to others who see the review what steps you’ve taken to remedy the situation.
Respond Appropriately: The customer who left the review is mad. You, likely, are mad too. But that doesn’t mean you should respond in anger. If you need to, take some time to calm down before responding. Then, when you’re ready, you can reply. Don’t apologize if you don’t need to, but do call them out on questionable details. Never use foul language or get angry. That actually supports their claim.
Invite the Reviewer to Reach You: Always give a negative review writer the option to reach out to you privately to discuss the situation further. Then listen to them if they choose to pursue this option. If they don’t reach out, no big deal, but you’ll show to the public that you were willing to address the issue.
Keep It Short: Stick to remedies and links to resources. Do not engage about what so and so did on such a date. You’ll only light a match to the fire.
Reputation Management From SEO Design Chicago
Remember that at SEO Design Chicago, we offer an array of online reputation management services. In fact, this service is great for any business, whether you sell products or provide services. We know the law and Google’s policies. We know what will get a review removed and we know if it can’t be removed. If it can’t, we will respond without anger and offer solutions instead.
FAQ:
- How do I flag a negative Google review?
- Do online reviews matter?
- Can people leave fake Google reviews?
- What can you do if Google doesn’t remove a bad review?
- Can the same person leave multiple reviews?
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