Google Reviews are a great way of getting extra leads for your business. Not only do five-star reviews present your business in a positive way to potential customers, but they also help Google determine where your business should rank on maps and business search listings.
The team at Daisy Digital has recently noticed a trend regarding Google Reviews. Now, more than ever, legitimate Google reviews for businesses appear to be removed by Google, within hours of being published. So why is this happening, and how can you prevent this from occurring to your business?
Spam and Fake Reviews
The first, and most common reason a review might be removed, is that Google believes it is not genuine and is perhaps spam or a fake review written to manipulate the business rating. This could present as a review that looks similar to other reviews posted previously.
Some businesses will actually pay for reviews to be published on their business profile, usually by someone that is not located in the same country as the business, which can potentially trigger Google to decide it is a fake review, and remove it. Google dislikes paid reviews as they believe that the “content that does not represent a genuine experience”.
Conflict of Interest
Sometimes businesses will ask friends and family to write positive reviews about their business on Google. Whilst this may genuinely represent an actual experience at your business, Google’s system may still believe that because the profile has the same last name, the review is fake.
They also will be able to pick this up off the content in the review if it mentions anything to do with being friends or family, and even believe that the review isn’t genuine if the same review has left negative feedback on a number of competitors.
Sudden Large Influx of Reviews
Whilst it is great to get an influx of reviews, and we strive to ensure that our clients have the tools and knowledge to gain an increase in reviews, a sudden influx over a 24-hour period of 10 reviews, for a business that may only get 1 or 2 reviews a month will potentially trigger Google’s system to believe that the reviews aren’t genuine.
The Review was Written at your Store
Google’s tools are very smart, so smart that they can detect where the review was written through IP addresses. If Google believes that a review for your business was written by someone inside your business (including customers in the store), they will remove the review.
Whilst it is great to remind customers to leave reviews whilst they are in your business, because of Google’s tracking, it is always best to ask for them to do so when they get home.
Google has Glitched
Unfortunately, Google has a massive database of servers they run, and from time to time they experience issues (although they often won’t admit that they are at fault). This could mean that a positive review that was posted could be accidentally removed for a short period of time until the system is restored to normal.
The Customer Deleted the Review
Whilst it is rare that someone will delete their review, a former customer might have issues with your product/service and decide to either change or delete their review. We always recommend that you respond to all Google Reviews – both negative and positive. That way the customer will understand that they can contact you directly should an issue occur, instead of through Google.
If a positive review is deleted, and you know who wrote the review, you can contact them to see if this was deliberate or not.
What to do if a genuine review has been removed?
As we have covered by now there are many reasons why Google may remove a genuine review from your Google Business Profile. Should that happen the only way to get a review re-instated is to submit a support ticket to Google. This unfortunately doesn’t guarantee that the review will be re-published. This is something we are able to do for Daisy Digital clients should they have a genuine review that has been removed.
Need Help with your Google Business Profile?
Google Business is one of the best ways of gaining quality leads for your business through calls and website traffic. The removal of Google reviews is only some of the issues businesses face on a daily basis on their Google Business Profiles. The team at Daisy Digital know everything about Google Business from ensuring that your products and services are being correctly listed, to having the correct images on the profile, and review management. All of these services are standard as part of our SEO package.
Are you a business looking to increase your outreach on Google, both through business and your website? Contact the team at Daisy Digital to discuss your goals today!
