Your Google Business Profile is likely the first glimpse potential customers get of your brand, so it’s important to make a great first impression. This can be extremely difficult if your business is the target of fake Google reviews. If you don’t know how to report and remove fake Google reviews from your business profile, your brand reputation is at risk.
According to a 2021 Bizrate’s Insights study, 91% of respondents said they read online reviews before making a purchase with a brand. Even one fake review on your profile can damage your brand reputation and potential revenue. This article will give you the tools and information you need to properly report and remove fake Google reviews and ensure your brand reputation is protected.
Spot Fake Google review :
Unfortunately, it’s very easy for online users to leave fake Google reviews on your brand’s business page. Competitors can leave fake reviews to boost your online ranking, and malicious third parties can leave fake reviews to trick your audience. Detecting and reporting fake Google reviews is essential to protecting your brand reputation and customer experience, but they can be difficult to identify.
Fake Reviews :
Another legitimate scenario that business owners face these days is fake reviews. Sometimes fake reviews are designed specifically to slander a business or simply give it a bad name to stop its growth. Again, this could be from a competing company or a spammer. While it is not so easy to identify the authenticity of these reviews, you can still do your best with Google’s spam detection measures, and at the same time, you can participate yourself when you are sure that a review is indeed fake.
How much Reviews matters :
Think about the last time you bought something. Did you consult customer reviews first? Most likely yes. Consumers want reliability; they want to invest their money in something that other people trust, even if they are strangers to the internet.
Of course, if there are any negative fake reviews for your business, potential customers can make a decision based on them. One convincing fake review can be enough to damage your business. If you own a small business, it’s even worse.
Google reviews need almost no verification processes. Anyone Cancellare una recensione su google can add a review as long as they have an account. This has led to an increase in fake Google reviews, either from competitors trying to smear your reputation or from trolls who, well, just want to troll.
In any case, such bad players can damage your brand’s reputation, which is why it’s important to know how to spot fake reviews.
How to Remove?
Google’s review policy doesn’t give you the option to delete reviews for the obvious reason that companies can simply delete legitimate criticism. However, there are steps you can take to remove a fake review.
First, you can mark the review as inappropriate. Check Google’s review policy Cancellare una recensione su google to see if your review violates any of the rules. Some of the things that Google’s policy does not allow any reviewer to write are as follows:
Fake Reviews (broad category)
Reviews designed to manipulate your Google star rating (empty reviews may qualify for this rating)
Irrelevant or “off-topic” reviews
Reviews that contain promotional content or links
Reviews with offensive language intended to bully or harass anyone
Reviews are written by competitors, current or former employees, or yourself (the latter of which qualifies as a “conflict of interest” just like the others)
Find out which one this particular review violates and then you can report it using the following steps:
Sign in to your Google My Business account.
Click on “reviews” in the left bar (for desktop computers) or find the “customers” tab and then click on the “reviews” option
Select the review you want to report and click the three-button icon on the side.
Select “mark as inappropriate”.
If you do not receive a response from Google within a few days, please try contacting Google through the “support” option available in your account.
Reply to a review.
It may take some time for Google to respond to your support request. so what do you do with a fake review during that time? As we mentioned before, it would be wise to respond to these reviews. A professional, direct but polite response can show your customers that you really care.
In addition, quick response to any negative feedback is good for any business. It will help you improve your product and thus your business as a whole. This makes your platform reliable for users. It’s also a good, if not perfect, way to judge if a review is genuine. It discourages fake reviews as they would hardly have a ready answer.
Conclusion :
Some fake reviews are not flagged even after several attempts. That’s fine, though it’s certainly unfair. As long as you respond to negative criticism in general—perhaps to fix bugs or improve your business model—customers will notice. And fake Google reviews can’t win the battle with good customer service.