Dealing with Inappropriate Google Reviews Effectively

Managing reviews on your Google Business Profile is essential for maintaining a strong online reputation, a point we’ve emphasised repeatedly in our blog. You can read Aylin’s article, which provides an in-depth insight into why this is crucial. However, it’s important to recognise that not all reviews may comply with Google’s guidelines. In some cases, they may be inappropriate, including spam, offensive language, or malicious attempts to harm a business’s reputation. Unlike verified review platforms, Google allows any user with an account to leave feedback on a business listing, regardless of whether they’ve had a direct interaction with the business. This lack of verification means reviews, comments, and ratings may not always reflect genuine customer experiences. As a result, businesses have limited control over who can post reviews, making it even more critical to actively monitor and address feedback to protect their reputation.

In this article, we explore how to handle reviews that violate Google’s guidelines and maintain the integrity of your business profile.

Violating Google Reviews: A Quick Summary of the Guidelines

Google enforces strict policies for reviews, with the full documentation available in this article. Here’s a concise summary of the key points most frequently encountered in day-to-day review management:

Offensive content – Includes hate speech, harassment, threats, or explicit phrases. Unfortunately, we come across reviews with discriminatory language against individuals or groups based on race and religion.

Personal information – It is somewhat unclear what Google may recognise as personal information. They state: 

Personal information is defined as information that applies to a living identifiable person, and disclosure could result in risk of harm if it is compromised or misused.”  

For instance, mentioning an employee’s first name, workplace, and position in a public review in most cases is not considered to be a violation of the guidelines, even though having this information makes the person in question easily identifiable. In these instances, we cannot rely on the guidelines either as Google has clearly stated: 

“Content which contains personal information of another posted without their consent such as: full/last name…” 

Content that is based on a conflict of interest – reviews written by employees reviewing their workplace, or competitors leaving negative feedback to undermine others. The main point here is that it is about what you can prove. Without evidence in the review itself, for example, promoting a competitor brand or the user stating that they have worked at the business, the removal of the review is unlikely.

The Process of Flagging a Violating Review

When you notice a review that violates Google’s rules, it’s time to take action. First, sign in to your Google Business Profile. Once you’re logged in, navigate to the “Reviews” tab and locate the Report Review icon. Next, you’ll be presented with a list of options. Select the one that best describes the violation. After flagging the review, you’ll need to wait for Google’s response, as they typically review flagged content within a few days.

Google has introduced a Review Management Tool which aims to streamline the process of flagging and managing violating reviews. You can also perform the flag here and Google will notify you of their decision via relevant status updates. If your request is rejected, you do have the option to appeal which is basically emailing the Google Support team with more details and arguments as to why you believe the review should be removed. In theory, this process sounds straightforward; however, in reality, if your account manages many businesses, be prepared to encounter frequent error messages and system failures when attempting to load reviews. Also, most of the time, the Appeal option mentioned earlier may not appear. From what we’ve heard, Google is actively working on improving the tool, and we’re excited to see it become fully functional in the near future.

Contacting Google Support

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your flag, whether Google has rejected it or has not responded, the next logical step is to contact them directly via their help page. Drawing from our years of experience, we have learned that being concise and direct is the best approach when communicating with Google. Specifically for requesting review removals, the essentials are:

– Back your arguments with references from Google’s guidelines;
– Provide the exact phrases from the review that violate the rules;
– Offer evidence whenever available to support your claim;

Be prepared for some back-and-forth with Google to remove the review, and don’t get discouraged if they reject it the first time. 

Seeking Help in the Google Business Profile Help Community

Another effective way to receive support is by posting in the Google Business Profile Help Community. Keep in mind that the members there are not Google employees. They are community volunteers offering their help. However, they can provide valuable insights and assist with escalating your issue further.

When seeking help, it’s essential to include your ticket ID from any previous Google escalations. This demonstrates that you’ve already attempted to resolve the issue through official channels and allows the community experts to track your case and provide more specific guidance.

To conclude, removing a review from a business listing can often be a lengthy process. If you’re confident that the review violates the guidelines, don’t hesitate to pursue a resolution. I hope the guidance provided above proves helpful in navigating this process.

Comments are closed.