According to statistics compiled by online marketing experts, 98% of consumers of typical local businesses prefer to read online reviews, and as many as 81% of consumers prefer to read Google Reviews, because these reviews help them decide whether to buy a product or use a service. Just picture this: if you wanted to take your family out to dinner at one of three newly opened restaurants near your home, where would you start? Pick one at random based on the route you happen to pass? Or choose the restaurant that matches the lucky color of the day? Rest assured that more than half of everyone would start by pulling out their mobile phone and reading the reviews of customers who have genuinely had a good experience at that restaurant.
Of course, when it comes to online reviews, it is easy for a customer to type in whatever they like, but for business owners it is another matter entirely, as they always have to wait and see what kind of feedback they will receive from customers. Naturally, online reviews alone are not the only factor that can help a business succeed or collapse in the blink of an eye, but it has to be admitted that for a business owner to pay no attention to online reviews at all would be far too careless. Therefore, this article will help clarify how to address bad reviews if your business encounters them, and whether or not those reviews can be removed. If you are ready, let's take a look.
What is a Google Review?
Today, Google Search is one of the most popular search engines that people all over the world use to look for the information they need. As has been said many times, for local business owners, using a Google Business Profile to establish a business presence online is something that will help your business expand its consumer reach, and of course it can be used for free (read more about Business Profiles here)
Once you have a presence online, the one thing you cannot escape is being reviewed. Many people who have searched for information about a restaurant, a shop selling products, or any service provider on Google have probably seen the name of that establishment along with yellow stars and reviews, both positive and negative. These reviews appear only on the Google Search and Google Maps pages, giving consumers the opportunity to write reviews and leave star ratings.
When should a business owner delete a review?
You first need to understand that not every negative review is a bad thing for your business, because if a review carries enough value, in the long run it can deliver good results for your business. This could be in the form of maintaining the relationship between the brand and the customer, such as responding to that review comment politely and building trust that no situation creating a bad feeling for the customer will happen again, for example.
If you find that your business profile on Google has too many negative reviews, you may have to understand that Google will not remove those reviews for you if the review does not violate its policies or have spam-like characteristics. The reviews that qualify for a business owner to request that Google remove them are as follows:
1.Civil Discourse
For the first type of content, Google states clearly that "we do not allow users to post reviews that contain content that harasses others or encourages others to take part in harassment." This type of content also includes hate speech, or clear and deliberate provocation.
2.Deceptive Content
If the content of a user's review is not based on a genuine experience, such as describing a product or service in a misleading way, including sharing content that impersonates another person or leads others to misunderstand, Google will consider these reviews to be content that deceives ordinary consumers.
3.Mature Content
Google will remove any content that is sexually explicit, including the use of vulgar language about sex, as well as content that incites violence in a demeaning and degrading manner.
4.Regulated, Dangerous and Illegal
Review content that may create problems involving legal restrictions, or that contains content promoting illegal activities, is also liable to be removed by Google.
5.Information Quality
One of the key criteria for Google to remove a review is that the review content must be based on the genuine experience of the user of that product or service. It must not contain content related to politics, or information related to COVID-19, including advertising one's own products, services, or any other business within the review.
In summary, if you find that an online review of your business matches any of the policies above, you can submit a request to Google to have that review removed.
Can business owners delete reviews themselves?
As mentioned above, business owners cannot delete reviews on Google Review themselves. If you want to remove a review, there are only two approaches available, namely the person who wrote the review deleting it themselves, and the business owner submitting a request through the Flag feature. The methods are as follows:
How to delete a review through Google Maps
How to delete a review through Google Search
- Go to the Google page
- Then search for your business profile
- Click on Google Reviews
- Select the review you want to report for removal
- Click More, then select the type of violation of Google's policies
Of course, online reviews are important for your business profile online, with their role of sharing in-depth information about your business with customers passing by online to help drive their decision to buy a product or use a service. Therefore, every business owner should pay attention to every review, especially if they find any online review that violates Google's policies, in which case they should submit a request to Google to have it removed immediately.
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