We understand that Google reviews can make or break your business’s success. Often people are quick to take the internet to resolve a problem and sadly there are people that are just unfair. Knowing how to remove bad Google reviews is a something all business owners should know how to do.
What happens when someone leaves a bad review and worse it is not true?
Is there anything you can do about it?
In this article we will help guide you through deleting a Google review along with other tips to get your business back on the front foot.
Why are Google Reviews so Important?
People often search word of mouth sources when looking to find a service, and a great place to do so is Google.
Word of mouth reviews have the potential to influence your customers’ buying decisions and their opinion on your service before they have even visited your website.
Having a bad Google review is not the end of the world, especially if the rest of your business reviews are great! It shows that you are genuine and do not have a group of friends and family singing your praises online.
However, a fake and truly unfair review is not worth keeping just to prove you are a real business.
How To Remove a Bad Google Review?
If you believe the review you have received is unfair or for the wrong business then there are steps available to remove a bad Google Review.
If you are looking for a delete button you will unfortunately not find one, it can be a process to have a bad review removed, however it is still worth it.
What will Google Consider as a ‘Violation’ ?
In order for Google to agree a review is a violation it must adhere to the following:
- Spam and fake content
- Off-Topic
- Restricted content
- Illegal Content
- Terrorist Content
- Sexually Explicit Content
- Offensive Content
- Dangerous & Derogatory Content
- Impersonation
- Conflict of Interest
Alternatives to Remove a Bad Google Review?
Respond to the Review
A great way to stop future bad reviews is to respond to the review.
When responding to the bad review you can ask for further context to the complaint, and also provides you as the business owner an opportunity to respond publicly.
Publicly responding gives other customers more context about the situation and shows off your business customer service.
Ask the customer to remove the review
Make contact with the customer and see what you can do to make the situation right.
The customer may automatically remove the review, however in instances where they don’t on their own, a conversation to understand if they will remove the review could be conducted.
Taking this conversation offline and handling it via email means you can keep the response professional and set expectations in writing.
How to ask Google to Remove the Review?
If you wish to proceed with the process of taking down the bad review, you will need to contact Google and ‘Flag’ the review.
To flag a review:
- Login to Google My Business
- Select the right location (If you have more than one location)
- In the menu, select ‘Reviews’
- Find the review
- Click the three dot menu
- ‘Flag as inappropriate
Google can take a couple of days to respond to the request and determine if they deem it as a breach of their Policy.
You can liken your chances by also having other people to flag the review.
I flagged the review and asked the customer to remove the review, now what?
Contact Google
If you do not get the response you wanted by flagging the review you can contact Google and put forward your reasoning to be reviewed.
To do so:
- Go to support support.google.com/business
- Scroll down and select contact us
- Select ‘customer reviews and photos’
- Then ‘manage customer reviews’
- Choose to receive help via phone, web chat or email
Conclusion
Google reviews are important to any service company and knowing the above information is essential for any business owner to navigate any unfair reviews customers may leave. Knowing how to remove bad Google reviews is an essential skill all business owners should know.