{"id":765,"date":"2020-06-07T18:41:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T18:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/?p=765"},"modified":"2020-06-07T18:41:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T18:41:35","slug":"remove-negative-google-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/remove-negative-google-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Remove a Negative Google Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hands down, the most common question we receive from clients is, <em><strong>\u201cCan I remove a negative Google review?\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It makes sense: everything is fine and dandy until you receive that dreaded negative online review. There even seem to be phases to the way people respond to negative online reviews, including disbelief, rage, and blame.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-766 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/beaf7e930689732cacc26baf48eb2dab.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"361\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Today, we\u2019re here to clear the air about how you can remove negative <a href=\"\/google-reviews\/\">Google reviews<\/a> and what even qualifies for the removal process.<\/p>\n<h2>Types of Negative Online Reviews<\/h2>\n<p>There are a few types of negative online reviews that you may encounter, each with its own background and nuances that require your attention before moving forward. Though there are numerous reasons for negative reviews, we\u2019ve narrowed things down to four stereotypes for negative online review posters.<\/p>\n<p>If you want more information on the posters behind negative online reviews, be sure to check out our guide on fake reviews.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1483\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-15-at-10.30.37-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"350\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3>The Angry Customer<\/h3>\n<p>The most common type of negative online review poster is&#8230;you guessed it: the angry customer!<\/p>\n<p>These are individuals who walked through your doors and 1) were having a bad day and therefore are having bad experience after bad experience, no matter the reality of the situation or 2) encountered a legitimate problem with your business.<\/p>\n<p>If a staff member remembers the situation described in the review, or if they are named specifically, you will want to speak with them or review video footage of the event. Does the customer have a valid reason for being upset? Were they asking for an irrational level of service or for an impossible exception to be made and that\u2019s why their experience was \u201cnegative\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>Think about these points before moving on in order to best determine if you could reach out to that customer personally and try to rectify the situation. By trying to work with an angry or upset customer to improve their experience, you may earn more loyalty from them than from the customer who had a good experience but forgot about it as soon as they walked out the door.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1484\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-15-at-10.31.30-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"554\" height=\"226\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3>The (Ex) Employee<\/h3>\n<p>Negative online reviews left by (ex) employees are tricky. Similarly to positive reviews left by employees, they fall into a questionable area of online reviews.<br \/>\nWarning signs that a negative online review may have been left by an (ex) employee are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If management or another staff member was explicitly called out<\/li>\n<li>If they complain, generally, about how poorly staff is treated<\/li>\n<li>If they mention seeing something specific that was only privy to other employees<\/li>\n<li>If their username matches, or resembles, the name of an employee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These may be obvious, but you will want to check off these boxes if you want to start creating a good case for this particular type of negative review to be removed by Google.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1486\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-15-at-10.53.44-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"783\" height=\"300\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3>The Competitor<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s an unavoidable part of doing business: sometimes competitors choose to take shadier routes to make their own company look better.<br \/>\nThis means you may come across a negative online review that attacks the ethics of your business directly. In other cases, you may notice that a negative review will specifically mention a competitor as the \u201cbest\u201d to sway users away from you.<\/p>\n<p>If you suspect this is the case, try looking at the review profiles of your competitors. Do some of them have similarly worded negative reviews that point to a singular \u201crecommended\u201d business? If so, you may have found the perpetrator.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1531\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.42.29-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"951\" height=\"183\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3>The Faker<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. It doesn\u2019t matter if your business has 300 positive, 5- star reviews and you have never had a single upset customer in all of your years running the business. Anyone who uses the internet knows one basic truth: trolls will exist anywhere, any time, and for any reason.<\/p>\n<p>This is why some negative online reviews come from fakers who are leaving a negative review for an unknown reason. They could simply enjoy causing a minute level of chaos in the life of a business owner, or they may enjoy the idea of writing a ridiculous negative review to dissuade potential customers from working with a business.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the reason, you will want to do as much research as you can into the name of the reviewer. Barring clearly made-up usernames, does the poster have the same last name as an upset client who came in last week? Is their negative post clearly nonsense? We\u2019ve even seen negative reviews for doctors office saying that the doctor is their neighbor and does a bad job shoveling their snow. If you think you fall into this category, you may have a decent case to get this review taken down by Google.<\/p>\n<p>If you want more information on the posters behind negative online reviews, be sure to check out our guide on fake reviews here. Though this guide is aimed at fake patient reviews, the information holds true across all industries.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Remove a Bad or Fake Google Review<\/h2>\n<p>Before you run to Google, you will want to take a few steps to ensure that you are starting this process off on the right foot.<\/p>\n<h3>Research<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned above, you\u2019ll want to do as much research as possible to find out if the reviewer was a real customer of yours. This means looking into the situation they\u2019ve described in their negative review and see if any of your staff remembers being involved with it.<\/p>\n<p>You will also want to check your client database for their name, last name, or any similar matches (such as Pat for Patrick) that came in around the time the review was left.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing, as surely as you can, whether or not this review was left by a real client will be an important detail to share with Google when you present your case to them.<\/p>\n<h3>Compile the Evidence<\/h3>\n<p>Get as much information as you can, such as the reviewer\u2019s name and whether or not they were a real client, whether other businesses in the area were hit with similar negative reviews, and anything else that could be relevant.<\/p>\n<p>You should also look into the profile of the reviewer themselves. Have them left reviews in vastly different areas back to back? If they left a review for a barber in Austin, TX on January 1st, a review for a restaurant in Santa Monica, CA, and a review for a bar in Ft. Lauerdale, FL within one month&#8230;it\u2019s likely they aren\u2019t prolific world travelers, but a fake negative reviewer instead.<\/p>\n<h3>Up Your Review-gathering Efforts<\/h3>\n<p>While you\u2019re trying to get one negative Google review removed, it\u2019s important not to lose sight of the overall goal. This means that you want to up your review-gathering efforts during this sensitive time.<\/p>\n<p>Submitting something for removal by Google isn\u2019t a guarantee, so you\u2019ll be best served by increased efforts toward real, positive reviews. Simply ask new customers, clients, and patients to leave a review about their good experience on Google and you can begin to effectively bury the negative review with positivity.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Remove a Negative Google Review<\/h2>\n<h3>Log into your Google Account<\/h3>\n<p>As a business owner, you should have already claimed your Google My Business listing for each and every one of your locations, and for any providers that work within your office. This is a good practice to manage the information publicly available online (such as your business hours, number, and address) and it also prevents someone from claiming the profile for themselves and incorrectly representing your business\u2019s information.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-767 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-19-at-1.35.26-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1191\" height=\"420\" title=\"\"><br \/>\nIf you have more than one location, make sure you select \u201cManage Location\u201d for the one you have received a negative review on.<\/p>\n<h3>Access Your Reviews<\/h3>\n<p>Once you are logged in and have selected the specific location that you are looking to access the negative review on, you will be sent to the Google My Business dashboard that allows you access insights, your Google My Business Posts, and other information. This is also where you will be accessing your reviews, as you can see in the image below.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-768 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-19-at-1.36.24-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"788\" height=\"357\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve opened your reviews, you\u2019ll be able to see everything people have said about your business online. All you\u2019ll need to do at this point is pin-point the negative review and flag it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-769 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-19-at-1.37.01-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"795\" height=\"205\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>Once selected, you\u2019ll receive the following notice, in which Google explains that they have a high demand to review and remove these negative reviews and that there may be a delay in their response. However, you\u2019ll also notice that only reviews that violate their <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/4596773?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">terms of service<\/a> should be flagged for removal.<br \/>\nThis means that a review that is simply negative cannot be removed. Again, because Google errs on the side of the reviewer, there must be more to that negative online review that detailing a bad experience.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-770 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-19-at-1.37.29-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"792\" height=\"389\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s against Google\u2019s Terms of Service?<\/h2>\n<p>If you want your review to be removed, you\u2019ll want to make sure that it actually violates Google\u2019s content policies. On top of that, you\u2019ll want to have all the information we listed previously at your disposal to help your case.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is a guarantee, though, as it is dependent on the Google employee to ultimately decipher the rules and decide whether or not the review has crossed a line.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a high-level overview of what Google considers a breach of their content rules. You can view this information on your own profile by clicking the \u201cGoogle\u2019s Content Policy\u201d link within the pop-up report review, as seen in the previous screenshot above.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-771 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Screen-Shot-2018-01-19-at-1.37.59-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"718\" height=\"599\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2>How Long Does This Process Take?<\/h2>\n<p>Google is the most popular search engine in the world, and they are constantly navigating requests for reviews to be removed. The entire process may be as quick as five days from start to finish or longer, depending on how long your research takes and how backed up the log of flagged reviews is.<br \/>\nWhat Happens if Google Ignores me?<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Google going MIA on your request to remove a negative online review is all too common. Because of the sheer volume of requests that roll in, legitimate or not, Google requires very specific information and evidence before they\u2019ll even consider removing a review.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that Google, and other review platforms, err on the side of the reviewer rather than the business. Though this may seem unfair, it\u2019s meant to protect the validity of reviews as a whole \u2013 even if you\u2019ve been hit with an unfair or fake negative review.<\/p>\n<p>If you aren\u2019t able to get your negative Google review removed, it isn\u2019t the end of the world \u2013 really.<\/p>\n<p>By keeping up with a good online review management strategy, you should have a steady stream of real and positive reviews that can effectively \u201cpad\u201d the reputation of your business on these review platforms, including Google. When a negative online review appears on one of your profiles, not only will your overall rating drop minimally (if at all), it will contrast starkly with the multitude of good reviews that are already present on your profile.<\/p>\n<p>That is why we always recommend using an online reputation management tool, like RepCheckup, to solicit reviews from your customers. To see exactly how our tool provides the perfect <a href=\"http:\/\/repcheckup.com\/online-reputation-management-solution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">solution for businesses<\/a> who are looking to manage their online reputation, please try our <a href=\"https:\/\/app.repcheckup.com\/signup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">free trial.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hands down, the most common question I receive from clients is, \u201cCan I remove a negative Google review?\u201d I&#8217;m here to clear the air about how you can remove negative Google reviews and what even qualifies for the removal process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmbgorilla.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}