How To Get Negative Reviews Removed From Google

Google has created a great platform for small businesses to grow. They have created a marketing platform for them that has seen new market entrants growing faster and making thousands of sales, all in their first several years of operation. This was a very difficult thing to accomplish in the past when marketing mainly relied on client referrals or word of mouth. Google created the Google My Business platform that lets business owners register their premises on the software and create a business profile. Here, they can advertise the various

services they offer, their prices, and the location. This has also been integrated into the Google Local Maps application that allows users to search and find businesses offering the specific services they need and where they are located.

One of the methods Google uses to rank these businesses in their platform is through customer reviews. These are feedback from the customers who have had an experience from purchasing or seeking a certain company's services. These reviews are usually displayed on the business’ Google My Business profile, and anyone who looks them up gets to read them. In the current technologically advanced world, and with online shopping growing at an impressive rate, these reviews have become vital to any business's survival. Before making a purchase or seeking any entity's services, over 90% of customers read through the reviews of the business. After going through less than ten reviews, a customer has already formed an opinion regarding the business and decided whether to buy from you or not. This shows how high the stakes are and the importance of having as many positive reviews, if not all, for your business.

This high-stakes situation has also led some businesses and other malicious people to make attempts at ruining other people's businesses. Some people create fake negative reviews and post them on your business platform. This can be genuinely dissatisfied customers or competitors who are trying to bring you down. It is thus important to know how to manage your online reputation by removing these fake negative reviews. This can be very beneficial to a business facing unfair competition or malice from an unknown individual. There are several violations that Google is always on the lookout for to allow business owners to remove these reviews.

Violations That Can Result In A Google Review Getting Removed

These are circumstances that violate Google review policies. They are aimed at ensuring every review is honest, user-friendly, and informative to other users. The policy also gives businesses a lifeline to defend themselves from these negative reviews and boost their reputation.

#1. Fake content and Spam

One of the major businesses that suffer from fake reviews is online directories. This is a digital version of the traditional yellow pages that allow people to input and change data regarding a business, such as their name, address, goods and services, and various prices. This information is accessible to anyone, and everyone can make changes. This makes it very easy to do fake reviews and input misleading information. These online directories are trying to develop filtering algorithms that will spot and delete fake reviews on these local business listings. Some, however, go undetected, and it is up to the business to bring them to the attention of Google. It is easy to spot these reviews, as most are generic and don't have a human customer's feel. They also tend to have unreasonable usernames and can leave several similar reviews.

#2. When you get several negative reviews from one person

When leaving a review on these platforms, you have to use a registered Google account. Some people tend to create several accounts, all to leave negative reviews. They could also use accounts belonging to friends and family in this undertaking. This can be very disastrous to a business as they will get a purposely negative reputation, and their ranking on the search engine dips. Spotting these can be quite hard, but once you see identical negative reviews, they are most likely from one person. You can flag these for removal.

#3. Racial slurs, Inappropriate content, or strong language

Google platforms are used by people of all walks of life and ages. They thus want to maintain a professional and friendly platform, and for this, they are always on the lookout for inappropriate content. They can be offensive words, bullying, harassment, or racial slurs. These are not under Google's policies, and they tend to remove these immediately. Once you spot reviews containing these profanities, you can flag them, and Google will remove them and even ban the account.

#4. Negative reviews from competitors

Reviews are very important to a business, and your competitors know this too. In a bid to get ahead, some businesses engage in the unethical practice of creating fake negative reviews for their competitors. This will result in a dip in their ranking and increase their own. With a ruined reputation, you cannot attract any new customers. This is very common for businesses operating in the same area. This practice violates Google’s terms, and once you spot them, you can flag them for removal.

#5. When a negative review is given to the wrong business

There are thousands of businesses on the Google platform, and some have a similar name. This can be confusing, with the customer giving the review to the wrong business. Unlike other reviews, these are quite simple to spot as they usually refer to services or products the business doesn’t engage in. This can be easy to remove, as you can clarify that to the customer and remove it without getting Google involved. You can, however, seek their assistance when it gets out of hand.

#6. Leaving reviews for a business in a location they don’t operate

This is a great challenge that businesses with several locations suffer from. In a case where a customer has a negative experience in one of your locations, they can go on a negative review writing spree as they try to ruin the reputation of the entire brand. According to Google’s terms, you can only write a review of a place you have visited or gotten services from. If a negative review is given to a brand's business location, they shouldn't be used to represent all their locations. When determining this review's authenticity, you can look at the business's location and that of the customer. If they are too apart, the review is likely spam, and you can flag it for removal. This is usually limited to several days, as the customer might also have traveled.

#7. Reviews from ex-employees

One of Google’s policies is that a business cannot get reviewed by a current or former employee. This is because current employees have a financial gain when they perform well and thus have an incentive to give false positive reviews. Former employees aren't allowed as they could have been dismissed for various reasons and have an ax to grind with the business. This ensures every person giving a review is neutral and is giving a factual account of their experience. If employees post a review, you can flag them and inform Google to have them removed. This ensures that no business gets an unfair advantage over others.

#8. Reviews that don’t state the experience

Through online marketing, businesses can use various social media platforms to endear themselves to their customers. Some can use blogs to create awareness about their services, and these tend to reach a wide audience. Thus, it can result in a business getting reviewed by people all over the country, some of whom might not even have ever set foot on the premises. These are usually people who are voicing their concerns or giving opinions regarding the blog posts and news stories a business might have highlighted. According to Google’s review policy, when leaving a review, you have to give a detailed explanation on why you took that position instead of ranting about unrelated matters. This is meant to ensure different users can read the review and get some insight from it. If a review goes off-topic, Google will flag and remove it from the platform.

#9. When inappropriate images are used

When submitting a review, especially for a bought product, you can choose to attach its image to your review. This is aimed at passing a message clearly. Some people misuse this feature by posting unrelated images that can be very inappropriate for the public. The images allowed should be only those that will help users understand the experience being referred to. If a review doesn't adhere to these guidelines, it can be flagged for removal.

How to flag a negative review for removal

Google has set up various business methods to identify and flag negative and fake reviews for removal. The process is very simple, and you don’t have to be an expert to follow.

1.      Search your My Google Business on Google maps, and once you identify it, select it.

2.      Click on the option to view all your business reviews.

3.      Three dots will appear on the top right corner that will allow you to toggle between the different options available. There is also an option of "Flag as inappropriate." Select it.

4.      A report will be generated to inquire further on the reasons you flagged it. Select the relevant one and submit it.

5.      Google will receive it, and upon review, the affected reviews will be removed.

Once you flag and report these reviews, Google might take a long time acting on them or fail to remove them. This can be very frustrating, and it will be up to you as a business owner to take the necessary steps to get the reviewers to remove them. You can also try to explain your circumstances to your customers.

Steps you can take in case Google doesn't remove these reviews.

Your biggest concern should be maintaining the reputation of your business. Google might fail to find any fault in the flagged reviews or take too long to conduct their reviews. There are several things you can do to salvage the reputation of your business.

#1. Make an apology to the customer

Often, negative reviews are usually from real unpleasant experiences. It is not always that when a negative review arises, you assume it's malicious. In these cases, you can engage with the customer and apologize to them. You mustn't get defensive, as this can further ruin your reputation.

#2. Invite them for a conversation offline

A majority of the customers of a business are usually locals. This can be advantageous to a business in case they get a negative review from them. Instead of engaging them online, which can easily get out of hand and make other potential customers shy away, you can thank them for their review and invite them offline for a conversation. You can even invite them back to the business and ensure they get a different and positive experience. You will not only retain your customer, but they will also have something positive to say about you.

#3. Always stay calm

When engaging with a negative reviewer, it can easily get out of hand. This is especially when the review is fake. In this case, remain calm and engage them slowly and with facts. This will ensure you don't scare away your customers, and this review won't get much attention.

#4. Ask the reviewer to delete it

When you look into a review and all the facts point to it being fake, you can get in touch with the reviewer and have them delete it. Some people can have a guilty conscience and will delete the review. This can save you a lot of time and is simple to do.

Takeaway

Reviews are vital to a growing business, and it is vital to ensure you have as many positive ones as possible. Circumstances can, however, become challenging, and you will be forced to report some negative reviews if they are fake. Here are some of the violations that Google looks out for before deleting reviews. There are also some steps you can take in case a review isn't deleted. Different applications will allow you to monitor, flag, and report fake and negative reviews.