Gone are the days when brands had total control of their reputation. Nowadays, the reputation of every business is 90% in the hands of its clients, therefore the majority of clients value online reviews before making a purchase or sitting down to eat in any restaurant.
So far, all very positive. But it is inevitable to think how a simple negative review on your profile could affect your business, especially if it is a new business or a new business which still not has had time to develop a strong and consistent online reputation.
It is for this reason, that we recommend you follow this closely, almost daily to take the necessary steps to minimize the damage of any negative reviews.
Can i remove negative reviews from Google my business?
The easiest thing is to take negative reviews personally, given that the vast majority of us work every day to satisfy every one of our clients. We must take every criticism constructively and it is important to answer these in an instructive and polite way, given that there are many potential clients who will value your company’s answer to a problematic situation.
If the review does not conform to reality or is completely false, Google is very clear with its policies and if this review does not comply with its policies, you are within your rights to ask for it to be eliminated. Although Google is very strict with these types of requests.
You can flag the reviews you find inappropriate from your Google My Business account. Google will review them within a week. If this review fails to fulfil their policies, it will be eliminated or Google will send a notification to the person who made the review to edit or modify it.
How to detect and eliminate false reviews?
Unfortunately false reviews on Google My Business are something quite frequent and in the majority of the cases they come from direct competitors. There are various factors that help us to know if the reviews are false. These are some points to take a look at.
- Reviews that contain contact details
- Reviews that demonstrate a conflict of interest, like someone who openly thinks that another product is better.
- Reviews that are a copy and paste, that don’t refer to the product or service in question.
- Reviews from profiles without a photograph or with photographs which lead us to think that the profile is false and created to make negative reviews of the competition.
Before any suspicion we recommend you point it out as inappropriate and ask for its review.
What to do before an avalanche of negative false and defamatory reviews?
If you are the victim of an avalanche of negative reviews and you have a clear suspicion that they come from a competitor, the best thing to do would be to skip the Google process and try to contact the possible offender to stop the absurd battle before taking legal measures.
Conclusion
Generally, the Google reviews cannot be eliminated if their content complies with Google’s policies. For this reason, we recommend that you do not get obsessed with negative reviews and making them better. Be proactive, not reactive with these reviews.
Always think that a good reaction on your part before a negative review coule be even more important than an 5 star review on your profile.
