{"id":3250,"date":"2024-11-04T10:56:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T17:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmudev.whitespark.ca\/remove-fake-google-reviews\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T21:28:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T04:28:03","slug":"remove-fake-google-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/remove-fake-google-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Remove Fake Reviews from Google"},"content":{"rendered":"

Businesses struggle to deal with the effects fake Google reviews have on their Google Business Profile (GBP) search engine rankings.<\/p>\n

Sadly, receiving phony reviews on your GBP is not a rare occurrence.<\/p>\n

But it is easier than ever to report and hopefully have them removed using the review management page accessible through your GBP.<\/p>\n

That is true whether they’re unwarranted bad reviews on your own profile or fake glowing reviews acquired by competitors.<\/p>\n

Google continually works to improve their algorithmic ability to detect fake reviews. In January, 2023, they\u00a0shared details with the FTC on how they fight against fake reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, their system still struggles to identify and detect inappropriate content without negatively affecting your real reviews.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Understand Google’s Review Policy before reporting any review.<\/li>\n
  2. Multiple methods are detailed in this content for reporting a Google review you feel tricks users or is not about your own business.<\/li>\n
  3. Buying fake reviews, positive or negative, is illegal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Will Google Remove Reviews?<\/h2>\n

    Yes, Google will remove reviews – but only if they violate their\u00a0Maps User Contributed Content Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    If you see a sudden influx of negative reviews, immediately investigate to see if they are valid and reflect the genuine experience of the reviewer.<\/p>\n

    Act immediately to report suspicious reviews. You want to stay on top of your reviews and respond to them in order to rank well in both Google Search and Google Maps.<\/p>\n

    What to Do When You\u2019ve Received a Fake Review:<\/h3>\n

    These are the steps you need to take:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Determine what rule the review has breached and report it on the review itself. That process is explained in detail below.<\/li>\n
    2. Ask others to also report the review. Be sure to share how.<\/li>\n
    3. While waiting for Google to verify that the review contains prohibited or restricted content, respond wisely to the visible review. We share tips on how below.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Understanding the Google Reviews Guidelines<\/h2>\n

      Before you start reporting Google reviews, you need to know what Google’s review policy guidelines are. You will find them in Google’s Maps User Contributed Content Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      To be considered for review removal, the reviewer has to have broken the Google Review Policy or be guilty of review manipulation. Incentivized reviews are prohibited.<\/p>\n

      Do not report a Google review solely because you don’t like it.<\/strong> And you cannot prohibit negative reviews. Neither can you selectively solicit positive reviews.<\/p>\n

      Google warns:<\/p>\n

      \n

      Important: Only report user profiles that contribute content that violates Google policies. Do not report users that contribute content you don’t like but is still factually accurate and relevant. Before you report user profiles,\u00a0read the policy<\/a>.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      Reviews are supposed to be based on a customer’s genuine experience. Google explicitly prohibits “selectively soliciting positive reviews” in its guidelines. This practice is known as “review gating”.<\/p>\n

      How to Report Fake Google Reviews<\/h3>\n

      It is easier than ever to report phony reviews:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Log into your Google account and navigate to your GBP and select the “Reviews” tab:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \"Image<\/p>\n

        2. Scroll down to the review you want to report. Click on the three dots.<\/p>\n

        \"Image<\/p>\n

        3. Choose “Report review”.<\/p>\n

        \"Image
        <\/em><\/p>\n

        4. Select which rule the review violates.<\/p>\n

        \"List<\/p>\n

        What Happens When You Report Fake Reviews on Google?<\/h2>\n

        You will only hear from Google Support if they require additional details from you or if they have information to share with you.<\/p>\n

        When Reporting a Review:<\/h3>\n

        A) If you can, have several people report the Google review in question.<\/p>\n

        B) Once a review is flagged, wait three business days for a response. However, if the Google review is loaded with hate-speech, profanity, and\/or has highly sensitive or sexually explicit content, escalate it immediately through Google Support.<\/p>\n

        According to Google,\u00a0a team of human operators reviews all flagged content<\/a>.<\/p>\n

        C) Google now has a tool that allows you to\u00a0manage your review removal requests<\/a>.\u00a0This tool helps you check the status of any reviews you\u2019ve reported.<\/p>\n

        This is also an additional way for you as a business owner or marketer to \u201creport a new review for removal\u201d for any of the profiles you manage.<\/p>\n

        Report the Review via GBP Manager & Support<\/h3>\n

        If the fake review has not been removed using the flagging method, get in touch with Google Support. You can do this through:<\/p>\n

        1. The GBP Dashboard<\/strong><\/p>\n