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How to Remove Fake Google Reviews
Have you come across a fake and nasty review? Don’t be alarmed! Reviews are an important part of managing local SEO and online reputation management.
As if getting new customers and enticing satisfied customers to submit reviews weren’t enough, you now have to consider what to do when that dreaded phony review emerges. Here’s what to do on how to remove fake google reviews.
While a fraudulent and unjustified negative review is certainly deserving of your indignation, you should never react in a frenzy. If you’re a tiny, local business, you’ll need to be even more careful about how you respond to and delete bogus customer reviews.
You’ll be fine if you follow the steps suggested in this post. It is critical to act quickly while being rational. Continue reading to learn how to delete phony Google reviews and boost your digital marketing efforts.
How To Remove Fake Google Reviews
1. Look for reviews on your Google My Business account.
You must first verify your Google My Company listing before replying to or checking for business reviews. For more information on this, see here. If your company has already been validated, you may move on to the following steps.
Log in to your Google Account for Business. Assume you’re in charge of a number of small enterprises, such as electricians and plumbing services. By choosing the “Manage My Accounts” option, you may double-check that you’re logged into the correct account.
After that, go to the Reviews tab. You may read, comment to, and manage customer reviews in this section.
2. Respond to the feedback
In every connection with your customers, remember to reflect your company’s beliefs and deliver the greatest customer service you can. This is especially true when it comes to maintaining your company’s internet reputation. What you put on the internet has the power to make or destroy your customer’s opinion of you.
Stick to the following techniques to keep your calm when looking through the critiques you’ve received:
- Set up a time to manage your online reviews regularly: your consumers want to feel acknowledged and respected. As part of your digital marketing strategy, you must set up a time to research, monitor, and respond to online reviews (both positive and negative)
- Check for false reviews: does it appear to have been authored by a machine? Are there a lot of misspelled words? Are you sure you don’t have that customer’s information on file? These are the questions that will assist you to determine whether or not the review you’re reading is genuine.
- Establish a procedure for dealing with phony reviews: think of it as a set of best practices for your organization, and train your customer service representatives and the team in charge of your digital marketing operations. You want to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that no one reacts irrationally in response to a phony or negative review. It’s critical to work together as a team in this situation.
- Take a look at some of Google’s best practices: Google has issued its own set of rules for dealing with bogus negative reviews. Before you make a move, arm yourself with this knowledge.
3. With Google, you can report fake reviews.
You’ve finished responding to the fake reviews, but you haven’t heard from the ‘customer’ who is concerned. It’s time to start flagging.
Google is prepared for the potential of false reviews and offers ways for alerting them to a bogus review via flagging. They’ll take it down from their end if they believe it breaches the Google review guidelines.
- Select the fake review you wish to report from the Review portal.
- A drop-down menu will display when you click on the vertical dots on the review. “Flag as inappropriate” should be selected.
- You will be routed to Google’s policy violation reporting page. Fill in the essential information and send it to Google.
- If you’re eager to get rid of that bogus review, you may do a few additional actions while you wait for their response.
4. Google Small Business Support can help you report fake reviews.
You can contact a Google support associate through Google Small Business Support if you believe a review merits further action because it contains hate speech or is slanderous.
You may enlist their assistance in a few ways:
- GMB is a good place to start.
- Use Twitter to get in contact.
- Follow the legal approach
5. Concentrate on obtaining more favorable feedback.
If left unchecked, a bogus Google review may do a lot of damage to your reputation. But don’t stay in the negativity once you’ve taken measures to get rid of it. Concentrate on what you can do next to increase the number of good ratings. What’s the best approach to go about it?
You may do the following to get more internet reviews:
- Claim your Google My Business account (this should be your first step if you haven’t previously).
- Integrate Google Reviews into your social media and website accounts.
- Email, social media, and even SMS marketing strategies may be used to provide Google review links to your consumers.
- Directly promote reviews on your mobile app.
- Create an email campaign to ask satisfied consumers to leave reviews on Google.
Google Review Policy
Google Reviews Guidelines & Violations:
- Spam & fake content
- Off-topic
- Restricted content
- Illegal content
- Sexually explicit content
- Offensive content
- Dangerous & derogatory content
- Impersonation
- Conflict of interest
How To Remove Fake Negative Reviews From Google
The first step in submitting a review to Google is really straightforward and consists of only a few basic actions. The main issue is whether Google will react to your request within a reasonable amount of time.
- Locate the three vertical dots to the right of the review you decided to be fake.
- When you click on the dots, you’ll be given the choice to mark anything as unsuitable. If you’re certain the review is fraudulent, go ahead and mark it as such. Companies that report reviews that turn out to be genuine may be penalized by Google.
- You’ll then be sent to a policy violation page, where you’ll be asked to provide your email address and choose the policy violation you feel the review is violating.
How Can You Tell If A Google Review Is Fake?
When dealing with false Google reviews, the first step is to determine whether or not the review is genuine.
There’s no way to have a negative review deleted if it comes from a real, dissatisfied client, so reply as soon as possible.
Fake reviews are typically easy to spot. When it comes to recognizing fake reviews, there are a few things to keep an eye out for.
- Look for the reviewer’s name in your CRM or point-of-sale software to see whether they’re listed anywhere. If no record can be found, the review is most likely false.
- Check the profile of the reviewer to see whether they have written similar reviews for other businesses.
- Reviewers may confuse your firm for another and submit a review for the latter. If a product or service you don’t sell is mentioned in the review, the reviewer most likely confused your brand for another.
- It’s possible that a spammer or a rival is targeting your business if you acquire a lot of negative reviews in a short period of time.
What If Google Won’t Remove The Review?
Even if you’re certain the review is fake, Google may refuse to delete it. Google will only take down a review if it is shown to be in blatant violation of their policy. On the other side, they may conclude that you did not present sufficient proof. If that’s the case, you might be able to provide further details.
If Google does not remove the review, it is a good idea to at least respond to the phony review and attempt to resolve the matter. This reaction demonstrates to potential consumers that your company is proactive in dealing with criticism in a reasonable manner.
Don’t Give Up, Concentrate On The Positives
Even the finest organizations are certain to receive some negative feedback. Whether the review is genuine or not, it’s always better to drown it out with positive remarks. Consider using outreach and marketing to encourage people to post reviews. This strategy will raise your overall star rating while pushing bad reviews to the bottom of the page.
It’s unlikely that you’ll come across many bogus Google reviews concerning your company. Providing exceptional service is the best way to ensure you obtain favorable references. Not only does this imply that your service delivers on its promises, but it also implies that any issues or complaints are promptly addressed.
Conclusion
A negative Google review, or even a phony one, will almost certainly appear on your company listing and Google Maps. This may also be seen on review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor. Fake reviews, on the other hand, aren’t a major source of worry.
Your brand reputation will be great as long as you stay focused on giving the finest customer service possible and keep a lookout for phony reviews.
False testimonials? Fake negative reviews? They’ll become old news and fade away as the flood of positive customer evaluations and star ratings take center stage.
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Big Easy SEO is a web design, SEO, and digital marketing agency that strives to help small to medium-sized businesses boost their brand in the online market and search engines.
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