How To: Remove A Bad Google Review. Best Practices

Over the past few weeks, our blog posts have gone into detail about the importance of building up the number of 5-star reviews on your Google My Business page or pages. We have also provided templates for responding to the reviews your customers are leaving on your Google My Business page and we have even gone into detail on how to respond when you are left a negative review.

While everyone strives to get only positive, preferably 5-star, reviews on their pages, we understand that negative reviews happen. What happens though, if the negative Google review is not a legitimate review?

Fortunately, Google has offered a solution for cases like this! Business owners are now able to flag inappropriate reviews that violate Google’s review policy. Reviews that contain advertising spam, personal information, conflict of interest, illegal content, explicit material or language, impersonation or hate speech can all be flagged as inappropriate.

To flag a review as inappropriate:

On Your Computer

1. Sign into the Google account that is associated with your Google My Business page and navigate to Google My Business.
2. Select “Manage location” under the location that the review you wish to flag has been left at.
3. Select “Reviews” from the menu.
4. Find the review that you would like to flag and then click the vertical line of three dots.
5. Select the “Flag as inappropriate” option.

On Your Mobile Device

1. Install the Google My Business mobile app.
2. Open the mobile app and log in to your account.
3. Tap the three horizontal lines.
4. Tap “Reviews”.
5. Find the review that you would like to flag and then tap the vertical line of three dots.
6. Select the “Flag review” option.

You will also have the option of flagging the review in Google Maps by opening Google Maps, finding your business listing, finding the review you would like to flag and selecting “Flag as inappropriate” from the menu of options.

It is important to note that flagging a review that was left on your Google My Business page does not guarantee that it will be taken down by the Google team. If your first attempt to have a review removed does not work, you can try flagging it again as well as asking others to flag the review.

Whether you are looking for additional help with the reviews on your Google My Business page or would like to discuss a customized strategy for building your business online, give us a call or book your free consultation today!