For all businesses, both small and large, reputation management is a core component to ensure growth and success. A company could actively work to build and expand its online reputation, but there is a crucial element that can derail all these efforts — Fake Google Reviews.

Reviews are a necessity to gain customer satisfaction. Let us look at some statistics that help underscore the importance of online reviews for businesses.

1. The number of consumers reading reviews for local businesses has increased. The numbers have grown from about 60% in the year 202 to over 77% in 2021.
2. The number of users relying on Google reviews has gone from 63% in 2020 to about 81% in 2021.
3. The number of consumers ready to consider a business with an average rating went down from 14% the previous year to a mere 3% in 2021.
4. In terms of fake reviews, a whopping 62% of consumers responded that they have seen such reviews for businesses in the last year.

The last of these statistics is the one that ends up adversely impacting the online reputation of a business and leads to a loss of clients.

In this article, we are going to examine Google’s policy on reviews and help businesses understand the type of reviews that go against these policies with examples of actual reviews.

What Is Google’s Reviews Policy?

The Google Review Policy provides a clear outline for reviews that are considered to be ‘Prohibited or restricted.’ Any reviews received by a business that falls within these parameters violate Google’s official policy and can be deleted upon request from the business. This is the facility that businesses need to actively utilize to safeguard their reputation from the detrimental impact of fake reviews.

The following are examples of “prohibited or restricted” content. These will assist businesses to get a better understanding of the review policy framed by Google.

Fake/Negative Reviews That Violate Google’s Policy

1. The Content Is Offensive

This is one of the most common types of reviews that we come across online. Any review that contains language deemed to be ‘obscene, profane or offensive language,’ according to Google’s policy, is eligible for removal.

It does not matter whether the review is fake or real. If it violates Google’s parameters of acceptable language in reviews, then a business can request the removal of such reviews. One should keep in mind the fact that mild insults are generally ignored by Google. However, if the language or vocabulary used is irredeemably offensive, then it is liable for removal.

In the following example, a restaurant review, the reviewer has used offensive language to demean the staff and other customers. There is no mention of the actual restaurant services, such as the food, service time, prices, and more.

2. Irrelevant/Off-topic Reviews

Google states that the reviews must be a reflection of the customer’s interaction and experience with a business. Any review that goes off-tangent and devolves into a negative rant, political positioning, or social and societal view sharing violates Google’s policies.

For instance, in the following review, a friend/family member of an employee removed from service has submitted a negative review. It is clear that the reviewer is not an actual customer of the company and has no relevant customer experience with the business to contribute a review about it.

3. Fake/Spam Reviews

Fake reviews or spam reviews are also unacceptable, according to Google. Now, in this case, the definition of fake or spam is pretty broad. It covers reviews that are obviously fake and not related to the business being reviewed, or reviews meant for some other similarly named business. Reviews that are meant to adversely manipulate the ratings and multiple/duplicate reviews received from the same accounts. In the last instance, even if the review is genuine, the unnecessary duplication makes it eligible for removal.

In the following example, a genuine review has been wrongly posted on another business account.

4. Reviews Which Indicate A Conflict of Interest

Google clearly states a list of individuals prohibited from contributing reviews. Whether positive or negative, Google does not permit reviews from them. These include:

• Current owners of a business
• Current employees
• Former employees
• Competitors

For instance, in the following review, it can be observed that it has been written by a former employee who was unhappy with his employment. Now, this does not count as a relevant experience according to Google to submit a review.

There are many other categories of reviews that violate Google’s policies, such as:

• Restricted Content — Reviews cannot contain content/services prohibited from promotion. Such as alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, guns, financial services, or adult services.
• Illegal And Terrorist Content — Reviews that mention or support any illegal or terrorist groups/activities are immediately removed by Google.
• Dangerous or Derogatory Content.
• Sexually Explicit Content.

What Should A Business Do To Tackle Fake Reviews?

The first step when your business receives a negative review, assess whether it is a genuine one or not. In case of a negative review by a customer with a less than satisfactory experience, try to address it. Write a response and offer to mitigate or resolve the issue.

In most cases, once the issue has been satisfactorily resolved, the customers change the ratings or delete the reviews themselves.

However, if you are certain that the review is indeed a fake one, then the right course of action is to report it to Google and get it removed. The removal of fake negative reviews will automatically restore your ratings too.

Steps To Report A Fake Google Review

Once you have verified that the review is a fake one and violates the parameters set by Google, then proceed with the following steps to submit a request for its removal.

1. Log in to the Google Business Profile page of your company.
2. Click on the tab marked ‘Reviews.’
3. Go to the review that you would like to report.
4. Click on the three vertical dots on the right of the review.
5. Select the ‘Flag As Inappropriate’ from the drop-down menu.
6. Finally, select the reason for requesting removal and submit your review.

Google shall send an update regarding acceptance or rejection of the removal request or send a request for more information depending on the nature of the review.

Summary

It is well within the rights of a business to safeguard its online reputation. To present a true picture, businesses should request satisfied customers to post their positive experience reviews. A higher volume of ‘True’ reviews will invariably offset a few negative or fake reviews. Still, if you feel like your business has been a needless target of fake reviews, follow the measures discussed in the article and restore your reviews and ratings to their true standing.