Can a business delete Google reviews
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Results-driven marketer with 20+ years of experience with hands-on digital execution. CEO and founder ofTwelve Three Media. Show Getty Business owners and marketers alike know the problems that can be created by a bad review. When someone writes a bad review on Google (one that reflects unfavorably on your product, service and/or your employees), the negative impact on reputation is often magnified by the aggravation of trying to get the review removed. It is important to understand that Google will only remove reviews in certain circumstances. Just because you disagree with a review does not mean it will be removed. Instead, the review must violate Google's content policies or be associated with an incorrect location or listing. Google My Business is expanding the ability of marketing agencies and business owners to manage their reputations on the platform in theory, anyway. With the new reviews management tool, account holders can report reviews to Google for removal and check the status of previously flagged reviews. The problem I've noticed is that the process is not available for many accounts with multiple Google My Business listings. This is unfortunate news for businesses with more than a handful of office locations as well as agencies that manage a high volume of business profiles for their clients. MORE FOR YOU Empathy Is The Most Important Leadership Skill According To ResearchWhy U.S. Talent Shortages Are At A 10-Year HighYou Probably Need More FriendsHeres How To Make ThemSo, if you get a bad review on Google and the management tool doesnt work for you, what can you do to remove it? The answer: Go through the standard process of reporting reviews to Google for removal. Any business owner or marketer will likely tell you that removing a bad review from Google can be frustrating. However, a little creativity can improve the likelihood that Google will take down a negative review before it does too much damage. How to Request Removal of a Bad Review on Google Google has outlined the steps you can take to request the removal of a review, but even if you follow them to the letter, you are at the mercy of Googles support team. Flagged reviews may not be assessed for several days, and even then your request to remove a review may be denied. Improving the Likelihood that a Review Will Be Removed Reputation management is crucial in the digital age. Getting found on Google (whether through organic SEO and/or optimizing your business listings) is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. Google may provide limited assistance to business owners and agencies managing reviews. So, businesses and agencies need to be diligent and take timely action on their own to limit the impact of a negative review. Here are my top tips for increasing your chances of having reviews removed: Act Quickly The most successful businesses regularly get new reviews on Google and other platforms. Considering the importance of fresh reviews (BrightLocal found that 73% of the consumers surveyed only look at reviews from the last month), the most recent reviews on your Google My Business listing are perhaps more important than your overall review score. Nothing in Googles guidelines says that it will consider prompt reporting of a new review over reporting a stale one. However, given the emphasis Google places on policy violations in removing reviews, it stands to reason that Google is more likely to pay attention to a recent review that other users are likely to see. Multiply Your Efforts The squeaky wheel gets the grease. However, in a massive machine like Google, sometimes you need to make a bigger squeak to get noticed. Dont flag the review from just one account and wait for a response. Instead, flag the review from multiple accounts under your control. Having access to more than one Google account means strength in numbers. In my experience, reviews with multiple flags are more likely to get timely attention and may be removed sooner. Broaden Your Offense To me, Googles policies on prohibited and restricted content seem intentionally vague. The lack of specifics effectively lets Google off the hook for managing the reviews left by users. This leads to endless frustration for business owners and marketing agencies trying to manage their reputations and limit the harm of negative reviews. Once again, however, strength in numbers can be helpful. Read the review you want to flag carefully, and compare it to Google's policies. Determine whether the review violates more than one policy specifically identified by Google. If you find that the review touches upon more than one offense, flag it again. Have a Fallback Plan If flagging the review gets you no response within 48 hours, I recommend that you engage in some reputation management of your own in an effort to resolve the situation. Reply to the review with a polite apology and request to take the matter offline. You may be able to work with the unhappy customer to rectify their perceived negative experience. If they are receptive, managing the situation may convince the customer to at least update the review if not take it down. At the very least, responding to negative reviews shows other users that you care. This is important in itself. Research has shown that 75% of businesses dont respond to their reviews. Yet businesses that do respond earn 35% more in revenue on average. Conclusion It can be difficult to get reviews removed even when they violate Google's policies or clearly mismatch the location and/or business. Given the challenge, a threefold strategy is beneficial: First, follow Googles guidelines for requesting the removal of a review. Second, go the extra mile in an effort to work around Googles processes to accomplish your goal of removing the review. Third, be prepared to exercise your reputation management and customer service skills to address the negative review outside of Googles system. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify? Follow me onTwitterorLinkedIn.Check outmywebsite. Sean Allen
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