How to remove negative reviews from Google?
One of the first things users pay attention to is reviews of a company or product. These reviews can either encourage a purchase or effectively discourage it. It is important to keep constant monitoring of the reviews that customers add to the business card you manage. Every review is worth responding to-regardless of its nature. It is worth encouraging your customers to rate the services you provide in order to gain more customers. What to do when false negative reviews appear on your profile? Is it possible to remove them yourself? How to report an opinion that violates the rules? Find the answer in this article.
Google My Company reviews
Appearing here is extremely valuable for a business owner. It provides an opportunity to reach a wide audience. Customers are increasingly coming to us for help with negative reviews appearing on their Google Moja Firma profiles. Customers are different, sometimes they don’t understand something, don’t read and hastily give “one star”. One may even be tempted to say that a small percentage of negative reviews have a positive effect on the image. Why? Well, an informed consumer knows that there are companies that practice buying both positive and negative reviews. Profiles with hundreds of positive reviews, without a single negative one, look very unnatural. Even the best company can happen to have a worse review – there is nothing wrong with that.
Feedback not from customers
There are methods of manipulating reviews added to online stores or fake “stars” in Google My Company. There are still practices of buying reviews in order to increase the rating. Google effectively fights this and removes reviews that are added en masse, which criminals know about, so negative reviews are posted gradually. Customers, aware of how important reviews are for business owners (especially in the case of service industries)
Don’t be fooled
Unfortunately, companies are increasingly falling victim to reviews added by fictitious or hacked accounts. They are often accompanied by an email informing them that negative comments can be deleted, upon payment of a fee to an anonymous currency account. This should already raise suspicions that someone is trying to be dishonest.
Is it possible to remove reviews from Google?
The owner of a Google business card my business does not have the ability to remove reviews on his own. If there are negative comments about your company, you should make a corresponding request to Google support by logging into your Google My Business account.
How do I delete an opinion on Google?
Google My Business – deleting reviews in the account
- You need to log in to your Google My Business card.
- Then select the opinion you want to delete.
- Next to a specific opinion is in the symbol of three dots. Click it and select the option: Report rule violation.
- Then select the reason why the opinion violates the rules.
It is worth mentioning at this point that not only the owner of the business card can submit an opinion, but also any other person. In addition, it can be done repeatedly.
Will the reported opinion be deleted?
The good news is that some reviews are removed automatically, caught by Google, as spam or rule violations. It can take a few days for a user to report and verify an opinion. The bad news, on the other hand, is that there is no guarantee that a reported opinion will be removed. Owners of companies tainted with false negative reviews have no room for maneuver here. Nonetheless, it is always worth reporting fraudulently issued negative reviews to Google my company.
What to do when you get negative Google reviews?
Above all, do not be intimidated and do not deposit any money! Reply to the opinion with calmness and inform that the added opinion is false. Report the opinion to Google support.
Slander crime vs. opinions from fake accounts
In Polish law, we can find two provisions that can help in the fight against this kind of unlawful activity
- Article 216 of the Criminal Code (defamation)
“1. Whoever insults another person in his or her presence or even in his or her absence, but in public or with the intention that the insult should reach that person, shall be subject to a fine or restriction of liberty.
“Whoever insults another person by means of mass communication shall be subject to a fine, restriction of freedom or imprisonment for up to one year.”
- Article 212 of the Criminal Code (slander)
“(1) Anyone who slanders a person, a group of persons, an institution, a legal person or an organizational unit without legal personality of such conduct or qualities that may degrade him in public opinion or expose him to loss of confidence necessary for a given position, profession or type of activity shall be subject to a fine or the penalty of restriction of liberty.
“If the perpetrator commits the act specified in § 1 by means of mass communication media, he shall be subject to a fine, restriction of freedom or imprisonment for up to one year.”
Pursuing rights through the courts in this case is possible, while it will consume a lot of time and money. Because of this, Internet criminals often take small or one-person companies as targets, who simply won’t find the time for such a fight. Unfortunately, the problem of this kind of blackmail also affects doctors, the publishing industry and others.
