How to Delete a Google Review as a Business?
Online presence is very important for any business with a physical location. In the fast-paced digital landscape, where consumers increasingly rely on online reviews, such as Google Reviews, to guide their decisions, businesses with physical locations find themselves navigating the challenging realm of online reputation.
Did you know that a mere one-star improvement in an average online rating can lead to a 5-9% increase in revenue?
Online reviews are very helpful for customers to make a decision about whom they would like to do business with. In a competitive market, online reputation plays a big role in gaining new customers. We are told by some businesses that overall rating below 5 star is considered unacceptable for their industry. Getting 5 out of 5 ratings is not easy and puts a lot of pressure on business owners.
Small businesses are usually juggling between multiple priorities with limited resources. You shouldn’t get discouraged by the need to have a higher online rating continuously to stay competitive. As long as you’re providing good quality service, you will find the customers leaving positive reviews for your business. However, there are times when there will be a negative review out of the blue which you didn’t expect. You might find the negative review unfair and might be wondering if you can delete that negative review to improve your online rating.
Stay with us as we uncover insights on converting negative reviews into positive ones and share steps to address the occasional unfair review that might catch you off guard.
2-Options to Delete a Google Review
Option 1 - Work on Converting the Negative Review to a Positive One
As you strive to provide the best service to your customers, you may encounter situations where a dissatisfied customer leaves a 1-star review on Google, impacting your overall score. From our interactions with various businesses, we’ve discovered that many times, this situation can be effectively addressed by directly engaging with the customer.
Identifying the customer behind the review and understanding the reasons for their dissatisfaction can often reveal that they harbor no ill-will towards your business. In fact, they may simply be seeking a satisfactory resolution to their concerns. Communicate with the customer, acknowledging any lapses in their experience, and outline the steps you are taking to prevent similar issues in the future. Approach the communication with courtesy, gently requesting the customer to reconsider their review either immediately or after experiencing your services again.
While this approach may initially seem labor-intensive, it can prove to be the more straightforward option. Resolving a negative review through direct engagement may not only lead to the removal of a negative rating but also has the potential to transform the dissatisfied customer into a long-term and loyal supporter of your business.
Option 2 - Dispute a Google Review
Unfortunately, deleting a Google review is not as simple as going to your Google Business account and clicking a button to delete the review. Google has a strict policy towards reviews to ensure there is a fairness to both sides involved. You can’t just request to remove a review you disagree with, however you can report a review to Google as inappropriate and remove it for not being in compliance with their policies.
Google’s Review Policy
As per Google’s Content Policy,
“posts or edits must be based on real experiences and information. Deliberately fake content, copied or stolen photos, off-topic reviews, defamatory language, personal attacks, and unnecessary or incorrect content are all in violation of our policy.”
Furthermore, here is the list of types of content prohibited by Google’s policy.
Examples of Google Reviews Eligible for Removal
Here are some examples of reviews that meet the criteria for potential removal. Please keep in mind, at the end it’s up to Google’s staff to determine what is considered inappropriate as per their latest policy.
- Harmful content that contains deceptive or misleading health, medical or civic information.
- A review encouraging your customers to go to your competitor instead which shows a conflict of interest.
- A customer using offensive and abusive language.
- A disgruntled employee calling their boss names.
- A review focused on your religious or political beliefs and unrelated to the services you’re providing.
- A review posted about another business by mistake.
How to Report Inappropriate Review to Google?
Go to google.com and make sure you’re logged in with the account which has access to your Google business location.
Search for your business name, you should see “Your business on Google” in the search results. If your business name is very common, it would help to include address in your search text.
Click on “Read reviews”.
Find the review you would like to report. Click on three dots menu next to the review and select “Report review”.
In the window that appears, complete the form.
Click “Send report”.
What if none of these works?
It’s always a good idea to have a quality reply to the negative reviews. Clarify the situation in the reply. Do not use attacking language on the reviewer as it may reflect more negatively on you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Google Reviews support email address?
Google does not offer support via email address for managing or deleting reviews. If you wrote the review, you can edit or delete the review yourself by using the same account used for posting the review. If you are a business who received the review and would like to have it deleted, you need to use the instructions mentioned above.
What is the Google Reviews support phone number?
Google does not offer support via phone for managing or deleting reviews. If you wrote the review, you can edit or delete the review yourself by using the same account used for posting the review. If you are a business who received the review and would like to have it deleted, you need to use the instructions mentioned above.
Can I delete a Google review?
If you wrote the review, you can delete it yourself by using the same account you used when posting the review. If you are a business who received the review, you cannot delete the review yourself. You need to report the review to Google for consideration if you believe the review does not follow Google’s content policy.
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