Are you one of those startup owners dealing with negative reviews and are wondering how to remove them from Google Business Profile? Undoubtedly, receiving bad reviews on Google profiles is an issue businesses and startups often face, and it can be devastating for their reputation.
For example, if you fail to give your customers a positive service experience, they may leave a negative review.
Perhaps your competitor might try to defame you by leaving negative reviews (common case in the corporate world)
No matter where they come from, negative reviews undermine a company’s efforts to establish a brand. That’s why you should be quick to remove them as soon as you come across one.
What is Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile is an easy and user-friendly tool to manage your business’ presence online through searches as well as maps. It provides small business owners with the ability to register their businesses on Google Search and Maps.
This allows businesses to tell their potential and existing customers where they’re located, what they do, which product/service they offer and how well those products / services have been received by their customers via real reviews.
The purpose of showing reviews on a business profile is to increase trust between your brand and customers so they become more likely to buy products and services from you.
Does Removing Bad Reviews Matter?
Bad reviews are negative comments left by others on your business’ website for customers to read. Sometimes, they are genuine and other times, they have no basis.
It’s okay to have a mix of both positive and negative Google reviews; however, your ratio of good reviews must far outweigh the negative ones.
On the flip side, the presence of bad reviews shows how genuine your business and its customers are.
Bad reviews can serve different purposes as well; they can be a reminder of your service quality going down or pinpoint certain aspects of your business requiring improvement.
They present an opportunity for your business to step back and look into your business’ shortcomings.
Your business may also be wrongly spammed by inappropriate reviews which may contain offensive, sexually explicit, wrongful and fraudulent content.
To not risk your brand’s reputation, always keep a close eye on such negative reviews and remove them from your Google Business Profile at the earliest.
Additionally, you may report a poor review to Google Small Business Support, and they will verify the alert for a bad review.
How to Remove Negative Reviews from Google Business Profile
You may also opt for these easy steps to remove negative reviews from Google Business Profile.
- Go to Google Search and search for your business
- Click on Google reviews
3. Click on the dropdown trigger and press report review
4. Add your reason and hit ‘Report’
Google will remove your review after reviewing your comment within 5 to 20 days of reporting.
What Reviews Should Be Reported for Removal?
Be mindful of what reviews to report for removal. It’s not advisable to always try to remove a negative review if it’s unbiased and depicts a real problem your customer faced while interacting with your business.
However, if someone leaves a biased review with no solid grounds, you should be quick enough to take the actions mentioned above.
Check out some types of reviews that you should be reporting for removal.
Prohibited and restricted content
You should remove any review that uses prohibited/restricted content and goes against global standards on what to post.
Spam and fake content
Many scammers and rival companies exploit unsuspecting prospects of another firm in a bid to hurt their competitor’s reputation. They create fake accounts and pose as their rival company, then deliberately provide poor experiences to clients in order to hurt their public perception.
That’s why it’s essential to timely purge fake content to successfully protect your business’ reputation.
Off-topic
Many people have a habit of making random bad remarks on the internet. Such individuals may choose to target your business’ profile which can hurt your business’ reputation.
Restricted content
Restricted content such as abusive or sexually explicit language and other unacceptable forms of content must be immediately reported for removal.
Sexually explicit content
Many customers may not be impressed by unnecessary sexual or obscene content. Therefore, keep your site attractive with unsullied information.
Offensive content
Content that is considered offensive to anyone on the grounds of language, race, social status and any other form of sentimental damage to must be immediately reported for removal.
Dangerous & derogatory content
It is wrong to slander your competitors. Instead, compete with ideas and product quality, not malice. Report any derogatory review.
Impersonation
The review should be authentic and genuine. Report any impersonated reviews the moment you see them.
The Impact of Negative Reviews
According to a study by ReviewTrackers, 94% of consumers admit that a negative review repelled them from a business.
You can imagine how bad it would be for your small business if a negative review led your prospects to stop buying your products and services.
Well, here are some recommended practices for you to respond to a bad Google review.
How to Respond to a Bad Google Review
- React positively rather than negatively
- Analyze the review
- Respond honestly
- Be straightforward.
- Fix the problem
- Get in touch with Google Small Business Support.
- Tweet to @GoogleSmallBiz about removing the negative review of your business
Flag Reviews Using Your Computer
Flag and fix inappropriate content
Your response to positive and negative reviews is critical for online reputation management or reputation building. Your remarks should be honest, well-researched, and unbiased.
The ideal response is to flag inappropriate google reviews and discard them to protect your online image.
According to Google, the following are a few examples of reviews that you should consider reporting for removal straightaway.
Flag inappropriate reviews
Flag dishonest and irrelevant reviews that may taint your brand’s reputation. Here’s a best practice to follow:
- Act quickly
- Have a fallback plan
Flag inappropriate photos and videos
The presence of inappropriate photos and videos in google reviews can be a big blow to your firm. Therefore, act quickly to remove them.
Flag inappropriate questions or answers
You should only be answering questions that are relevant to your business. If someone asks an inappropriate question that you may think can damage your company’s reputation, you should flag them immediately.
Here’s how to ask for review removal on Google Maps and Google Search using your computer.
Flag a review in Google Maps
- Open Google Maps.
- Find your Business Profile.
- Find the inappropriate review you’d like to remove.
- Click More and then report a review.
Flag Reviews on Android
Flag inappropriate user profiles
Since most website traffic comes from mobile devices, the chances are high that your business gets fake Google reviews from mobile users. Your community management team should act quickly to flag those profiles and remove reviews (if any).
To delete a Google review/user profile using an Android device, follow the below steps. Once reported, the profile will be removed within 10 days.
Flag a review or user in Google Maps
- On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Maps app 📍
- To open your Business Profile, tap your profile picture or Business Name initials > Tap Your Business Profile at the top right.
- Click Reviews.
- Find the fake review you’d like to report → To flag a review: Tap More More > Report review
- To flag a user: Tap the user’s name, then tap More > Report profile.
Flag a review in Google Search
- On your Android phone or tablet, go to Google.
- Find your Business Profile.
- Click on Reviews.
- Find the review you’d like to report → Tap More > Report review.
Flag Reviews on iOS
Flag inappropriate user profiles
To delete a Google review/user profile using an iOS device, follow the below steps. Once reported, the user profile will stop appearing within 10 days.
Flag a review or user in Google Maps
(same as Android process as above)
- On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app 📍.
- To open your Business Profile, tap your profile or initial > Business Profile at the top right.
- Press Reviews.
- Find the review you’d like to report.
- To flag a review: Tap More > Report review.
- Tap the user’s name and then More > Report profile to flag a user.
Conclusion
Negative Google reviews are a blemish on the image of your company. Whereas positive reviews signify that customers are satisfied with the experience while interacting with your company.
Your positive online reputation automatically reflects in the number of visits your company gets (More credible testimonials = better prospect of attracting more customers). A challenge, however, arises in eliminating negative reviews, increasing the number of positive reviews while staying alert for bad reviews about your business in Google Search and Maps.
With TechNerds, you can be confident about your business receiving positive reviews, building its reputation in the market, and driving more business. See how one free consultation can make a difference!
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