By now, every company owner is aware of the value of having positive online reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, etc. Prospective customers do read these reviews. We are also aware of how simple it is for a disturbed individual to post a nasty review concerning something out of your control.
There are now companies who offer to pay to get unfavorable reviews removed. But how well-performing are these services?
Anecdotally, we have heard conflicting opinions regarding these services, but we have never really experienced them in action. As a web development company, we have previously contacted Google to request that bogus evaluations for clients be taken down but have been utterly ignored. In fact, it may be argued that the only businesses who aren’t concerned with bad reviews are those that post them in the first place. I’m hoping that changes eventually.
The businesses who offer these services assert that they can get rid of just one negative review from the site. They claim it will cost $200 and take up to 60 days. There are certain things you can try on your own before spending money on a two-month coin flip.
How to Get Rid of Bad Google Reviews if They are Against Google Policy
Some people would rather just watch the planet burn. The same individuals are frequently responsible for negative, inaccurate, or even fake Google reviews of businesses of all sizes. Fortunately, Google has procedures in place to remove this kind of stuff forever (or, at least until it occurs again). Google forbids the following kinds of content from being posted on Google Reviews, Google Photos, or Google Videos:
Civil conversation
Harassment
Hateful language
offensive material
identifying details
Deceptive information
fake relationship
Impersonation
Misinformation
Misrepresentation
Mature material
profanity and obscenity
sexually graphic material
Adult-themed programming
Basically
Generally speaking, negative ratings can’t be removed by those firms on Google. Google verifies company reviews to ensure the integrity of their goods and services. If the review is legitimate and honest, Google won’t take it down.
A company’s reputation will be at jeopardy if it does remove legitimate evaluations, and its customers will be better equipped to make decisions. Google wants to protect its customers against fraud.
Those companies will essentially try contacting Google on your behalf and claim that the comments violate Google’s rules. Google can easily decline to remove the comment for these companies just as they can for you.
Sometimes its best not to freak out over one or two bad reviews. People tend to trust reviews that aren’t all perfect. A blemish here or there “keeps it real”. If your catering business in Melbourne Florida, for example, has a 4.8 review vs a 5.0 review, many are likely to consider that score more realistic.
Conclusion
Try your hardest to avoid negative reviews. When it comes to an angry customer “nip it in the bud”. Try not to let it get to the negative review stage. If they leave a fresh one, offer to make the issue right for them. There is a decent chance they will remove the review. Any reputable SEO company will give you this same advice. It’s the old “ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” truism but applied in online reviews. If you think a company can do it and you think they will try to accomplish the task without your site getting penalized then give it a shot. Make sure to search for reviews on that company first though.
