02 Jan 2 simple ways to delete reviews from Google
Did you receive a negative review on Google (GMB listing)?
We know how disheartening it is to see such reviews when you do your best to deliver quality. That said, having a negative review isn’t the end of the world. Infact, it is healthy to have few negative reviews along with the positive ones, as it shows you are a real business with genuine reviews from real customers.
So, it is fine to have a small percentage of negative reviews and at the end of the day, we all are humans, may make mistakes and sometime things are out of our control.
Having said that, if the review is explicitly fake or demean your business falsely, it’s worth trying to get the review removed.
Before we go any further, you must note the following:
- The GMB owner cannot delete the reviews on their own from Google.
- Incase you are considering to remove the business from your Google My Business account, it won’t delete the listing on Google Maps and the reviews would still appear in Google search.
What are the ways to Delete Google Reviews?
There are only two ways:
Firstly, Flag an inappropriate review and request Google to remove it.
Secondly, ask the customer who left the review to delete or edit it.
Step- by- Step Instructions: – “Requesting Google to delete a review”
Google provides business owners with an option to flag the reviews that violate the Google’s policies and can request for their removal.
Here are the steps you need to follow to flag a review:
- Sign into Google My Business on your computer
- Incase you have multiple businesses or locations linked through same account, choose the business/location you would like to manage
- In the menu on the left, click reviews
- Search for the review you’d like to flag. There are 3-dots adjacent to each review on the right. Click and Flag as inappropriate
- On clicking “Flag as inappropriate” you will be directed to a page to choose the reason for flagging.
- As per Google the following reasons are considered as policy violation, choose the one under which your review falls and click SUBMIT
- Once your request is submitted, you will receive an email from Google My Business, confirming the same
This assessment by Google may take a few days time. A more effective way is to reach out to the Google Support team after flagging the issue. Also, incase you receive the following (negative) response from Google, contacting the support team and explaining your reason personally , may be of help.
How to contact Google My Business support?
Follow the below given steps, to contact the GMB support:
- Go to https://support.google.com/business
- Scroll down and click on Contact us, under “Need more help?”
- Choose the business you need help with and mention your issue as “removing reviews” or just “managing reviews”
- Confirm the issue, click on others
- You would be able to either see all or any of the below mentioned contact options:
Phone, Chat, Email
- Choose the option suitable for you and start the conversation. Explain your issue in detail and state out the reasons as to why you would like to get the review removed.
Remember, Google will not remove a review just because it is bad or negative. You need to state out reasons supported with Google policy for a desirable action.
For instance, one of our clients, a medical clinic, got about 4 negative reviews in a time frame of 2 days. They appeared to be posted by same person using different ids. Each had deplorable language used for the Doctor.
We flagged the reviews and simultaneously responded to each review , addressing their issue. After flagging the issue we reach out to Google support via chat and explained the complete situation. We were then in touch with the support team representative over the email, who kept us updated about the status of our concern. The case was transferred to a specialist for a deeper evaluation and making a decision on our case.
Few days later we received an email from Google
Absolutely. We had a big SMILE. This completely made our day!
Eventually we got 3 out of 4 reviews deleted by Google.
But, there would be times Google would not find any violations and may not remove the review. You may then go to the second option
Request your customer to delete the review
Turning your bad review to a good review is possible. We have also seen customers deleting bad reviews on their own, just that it may require you to get into the root cause of their issue and resolve it. This process requires patience and persistence.
Let’s look at how you can persuade your customers to edit/delete a negative review:
- Be calm even when the review has some harsh words for your business.
- Evaluate the situation carefully. Try to contemplate what lead to such feedback.
- Respond to the review.
- Your response should be genuine. Do not get offensive or defensive while reverting.
- Own up the mistake and apologize.
- Address the issue and offer a solution. Try to get in touch personally.
Once you have offered the solution, reach out to them to understand if they still feel the same way. And if something else could be done further from your end to resolve their concern.
If they are happy now, then Congratulations! This is exactly the right time to ask them to edit or delete the negative review they posted.
You can guide your customer with the steps given below to edit/delete the review:
- Go to https://www.google.com/maps, should be signed in with the same email id that was used to pot the review
- On the top left of the page click on the three horizontal lines
- From the Menu click on “Your Contributions”
- Click on Reviews
- Look for the review in question. Click on the three dots on the right side on the review.
- Three options would appear- Edit review, Delete review, Add photo
- Click on edit or delete and post
LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST
If either of the ways recommended above does not work and that harsh review still continue to appear on your business listing, don’t get disheartened. You can still, downcast that negative review by asking for reviews from existing customers. As per study, most people read top 6 reviews while researching about a company.
So, the bottom line is regularly asking customers with good experience to post their feedback online. Respond to all the reviews be it positive or negative more promptly, make your customers feel “You care”. And If it’s a fake review, it’s always worth trying to get it removed.
When in today’s time, brand reputation is more fragile than ever, it is essential for Businesses to be vigilant and on top of everything that needs to be done to protect it.
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