The opinions of strangers are powerful, but you probably already know if you’ve been bothered by an unfair review. According to a recent study, 77% of people almost always read reviews before deciding on a local business to use.
In addition, 89% of people are more likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews.
When you receive a poor Google review, it’s normal to wonder if you can pay someone to remove it.
Unfortunately, this is not possible, but you can easily find companies claiming they can remove any negative reviews about your business for a fee. To be clear, no one is able to delete a bad review other than the review site itself (or the reviewer who left it), and Google doesn’t offer to delete reviews for anyone.
Keep reading to learn the right way to handle these reviews, including actions that can result in the review being removed.
Key Takeaways
- You can remove reviews the right way. Learn how to report inappropriate or fraudulent reviews through your Google My Business account.
- Google has a firm policy regarding reviews. Learn about the rules your reviewers are expected to follow.
- Google will remove reviews in some situations. Find a list to compare against the reviews you hope to remove.
- No paid review removal services have any special influence over Google. Find out what they do, and why it often isn’t worth paying for.
Understanding Google’s Review Policy
Google’s review policy is designed to ensure that reviews on Google Maps and Google Business Profile reviews (aka Google My Business) are helpful, relevant, and respectful.
This policy helps to maintain the integrity of the Google review system, ensuring that potential customers get an accurate picture of your business. These are the core principles of Google’s review policy:
- Personal experience: Reviews should be based on a customer’s personal experience with your business. This ensures that the feedback is genuine and relevant.
- Honesty and accuracy: Reviews should be honest and accurate, reflecting the true nature of the customer’s experience.
- No spam or fake content: Reviews should not contain spam, fake, or misleading content. This helps maintain the credibility of the review system.
- Respectful content: Reviews should not contain hate speech, harassment, or explicit content. This ensures a respectful and safe environment for all users.
- Confidentiality: Reviews should not contain personal and confidential information, protecting the privacy of individuals.
Understanding these guidelines can help you better manage your Google reviews and ensure that your business is represented fairly and accurately. Perhaps more important to your mission are the violations named in the policy.
When Does Google Actually Remove Reviews?
Google removes reviews when those reviews violate its rules against prohibited and restrictive content. It organizes this policy to ban types of deceptive and inappropriate behavior. Use the tables below and compare each item against the reviews you want to remove. If any of these violations match, you have a better chance of removing the review.
| Deceptive content and behavior | |
| Fake engagement | The policy bans reviews that are not based on a real experience and do not accurately represent the location or product. This includes content posted using an emulator or other device tampering service, modified operating system, or other method to mimic genuine engagement, manipulate sensor data or results, or otherwise thwart or confuse normal operations. |
| Impersonation | Google bans content posted or shared seeking to impersonate any person, group, or organization. It also bans content that contains alternative names for a person or organization where the content is not attempting to mislead others. |
| Misinformation | Your reviewers may not include false, inaccurate, or deceptive information that could significantly harm individuals, businesses, and society. |
| Misrepresentation | The Google reviews policy bans false or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service. This includes reviews that distort or omit facts to scam other users. It also bans content that is based on a conflict of interest. Examples may include current or former employment, or other professional or personal affiliations demonstrating conflict of interest. |
| Inappropriate content and behavior | |
| Harassment | Reviewers are banned from doxxing, creating content that results in unwanted sexualization, harassing other people or businesses, or encouraging others to participate in any kind of harassment. |
| Hate speech | Reviewers are forbidden from posting or sharing content that includes any form of hate speech. Google defines this as content that dehumanizes, belittles, or vilifies individuals or groups based on a protected characteristic. |
| Offensive content | Reviewers may not use Google products to attack people or groups. They are also prohibited from being deliberately provocative or making any unsubstantiated allegations. |
| Personal information | Reviewers may not provide personal information about others without consent. The policy bans the full names, pictures of faces, and other identifying information. |
| Obscenity and profanity | Google will remove obscene and profane content. It defines this as content that uses profanity or obscenity. |
| Sexually explicit or adult themed content | Google bans all depictions of sexual acts, genitals, or fetishes intended to be sexually gratifying. |
| Other Reasons | The complete policy covers a number of other violations, including: Violence and gore Regionally-restricted content Dangerous content Child safety Terrorist content Off-topic Advertising or solicitation Unclear or repetitive Content Defacement or mischief |
Now you have a better idea of what kind of content is violating, and you may be ready to try removing it. Before you do that, you should understand that the services that offer to do this for you can’t do much at all.
What About “Guaranteed Review Removal” Services?
Review removal services advertise that they can remove reviews for a fee. You may imagine they have proprietary skills or a relationship with Google, but the only thing these companies can do is follow the same process you do.
Google does not remove reviews at anyone’s request unless there is a policy violation. All these companies do is look for policy violations and then report the review as a third party (anyone can report a review, not just the profile owner).
You could do that yourself in less than a minute. Google provides a complete guide for reporting violating reviews here. It has only a few steps.
- Go to your Business Profile
- Select Read reviews
- Next to the review you’d like to flag, select the Report issue icon
- Select the reason to flag the review (Examples: “Spam” or “Profanity”)
- Select Send report
That’s hardly worth paying a fee for, especially when there are some far more effective ways to deal with negative reviews over the long term.
How to Bury Unfair Reviews the Right Way
That Google review you want to be removed is probably all you can think of right now. But if you look back at the bigger issue, you’ll see that the problem isn’t one or two bad Google reviews.
The real problem is that you don’t have a steady stream of positive reviews to drown them out.
If you had five or 10 or even 20 positive reviews for every negative review, would you really be bothered when a negative review comes in?
Review management software like ReputationStacker helps you consistently get more Google reviews. ReputationStacker automatically sends your customers an invite via email or text message, has them rate your business, and directs them to the most important review sites where they can post a review.
The system automatically follows up with your customers who don’t post reviews naturally and encourages them, maximizing your review generation. This is a very simple and effective way of controlling how your business looks online. And it’s why some businesses have more real customer reviews than their competitors.
Start Getting More 5-Star Reviews Today
Online reviews can make or break a business, no matter your service or product. Using automated reputation management software like ReputationStacker means you won’t need to worry about a few negative reviews here and there, as the new positive reviews you receive will far outweigh them.
Frequently Asked Questions About Google Review Management
Will deleting my Google Business Account delete the reviews?
Deleting your Google Business account does not remove the reviews associated with it, Google reviews are tied to the business listing, not the account itself. If you delete the account, the reviews will still appear in Google search unless flagged for removal due to policy violations.
How can I optimize my Google Business Profile for better local rankings?
To optimize your Google Business Profile, make sure your business details are accurate, including your name, address, phone number, and hours. Regularly update your business photos, request Google reviews from your customers, and respond to reviews. This can boost your visibility in local search results and Google Maps.
How do I add Google reviews to my website?
To add Google reviews to your website, you can either manually copy and paste individual reviews or use a review aggregation tool or plugin, like the one included with ReputationStacker.
Can I use Google reviews on social media?
You can share Google reviews on social media, especially positive reviews that highlight your business’s strengths. Sharing these reviews helps build credibility and trust with your audience. Ensure you respect customer privacy and always seek permission before sharing personal details.
Can my employees leave Google reviews for my business?
Technically, employees can leave reviews for your business, but it is generally discouraged by Google. Reviews from employees may be perceived as biased and could be flagged as conflicts of interest. It’s best to encourage reviews from genuine customers to maintain the legitimacy and credibility of your Google Business listing.
How do I get a Google review link?
You can get a Google review link in your Google Business Profile (aka Google My Business) settings. Once you’re logged in, navigate to the “Home” section and click on the “Get more reviews” button.
You can then copy and share the link with customers to make it easy for them to leave a review. If that doesn’t work, check out our guide on how to get a Google Review link.
What is the process to appeal eligible reviews for removal?
If you believe a review violates Google’s review policies and has not been removed after flagging it, you can appeal by contacting Google Business Support. In your appeal, provide evidence showing how the review is misleading, defamatory, or violates any Google policies, such as posting fake reviews or false information.
Can I leave my own review on my Google Business Profile?
Business owners cannot leave their reviews on their Google Business Profile. Google’s policies prohibit business owners from posting fake reviews. Instead, encourage satisfied customers to leave honest, legitimate reviews to improve your profile’s credibility and ranking.
