Guide on How to remove a Google review easily

A single bad review can ruin your online reputation & lose your customers. This guide will show you how to remove a Google review.

Imagine you are on vacation in Italy. Once you check in to your hotel next, you think, “What is a good place to have an Italian pizza?” 

If you are in Italy, of course, you have to taste a pizza. But since you are a tourist & new to the country, you have no idea where to go. You can simply ask the hotel staff, but since they are locals their preferences could be different. If you are also like the majority, you will search on Google for a good pizza place nearby. 

Studies show that 82% of shoppers/ customers do not purchase a product or service until they read online reviews. Google is the most trustworthy review site. So, if you are a business owner, remember that a single negative Google review can ruin the image of your business & lose your potential customers. I suppose you now realize how powerful a Google review can be. 

Any company that wants to expand & grow wants positive reviews from customers. But unfortunately, most of the time, only those who had a bad experience with business care put a review, of course, a negative review. 

So, as a business, it is essential for your customer service team to keep an eye on the reviews you get & manage the negative ones. 

In this blog post, I will explain how to remove a Google review.

How to remove a Google Review?

Follow these steps to remove bad reviews from Google. You can’t delete a Google review by yourself. Instead, you have to flag them as inappropriate & get Google to remove those.

1.Open Google Maps & find your business there. Type your business name on the search bar & hit search. Then you can locate your business.

Or,

You can use Google search to find your business. Type your business name in Google & locate your business.

2. Then you will see all the details of your business. There will be the number of reviews you got under the business name. 
3. Click the reviews option as shown in the below image. It will open the reviews you got for your business.

4. Find the review you want to remove. Then click the three dots in front of the reviewer’s name. 
5. Then select Flag as an inappropriate option. 

6. Finally, select the reason to report the review from this list. All these reasons will be discussed in the later part of this blog. 

7.Click submit to finish reporting the review. 

Reasons to flag a review:

If your business gets reviews that fall under the below categories/policy violations, you can get that review removed by flagging it.

You can report the reviews that violate Google policies.

Let’s study these policy violations more,

1. Off-topic

Off-topic means a review is not about your business’s customer service or the customer experience that person got from your business. If a review mentions things unrelated to your business, you can report it as off-topic. Plus, if a review doesn’t say anything & gives you only one or two star rating, you can flag that remove under off-topic.

2. Fake or spam

If a customer review is fake or trying to promote an unrelated product, you can flag it as spammy reviews. It could be someone who leaves multiple fake Google reviews, mentions another business, or advertises unrelated products or services.

The spam policy helps to keep Google reviews trustworthy, genuine & relevant. 

3. Profanity

Google has a policy concerning profanity in reviews. That means you can flag/ report reviews that include curse words or offensive language. The purpose is to keep a respectful and suitable environment for all users.

4. Bullying or harassment

Google also has policies to address bullying or harassment in reviews. You can report the reviews that attack/ bully individuals or businesses. 

Google considers such reports seriously and may take appropriate action. The goal is to promote a safe and supportive community where people can share their experiences without fear of mistreatment.

By executing these policies, Google aims to create a platform that encourages productive and helpful reviews while preventing offensive language, bullying, and other harmful behavior.

Make sure to flag a review under the most appropriate category. Unless you will not be able to convince Google to remove that review.

Ways to handle negative reviews:

When you learn how to remove a Google review, remember that flagging is not the only option. Flagging a negative review informs Google that a particular review violates review policies. But it doesn’t 100% guarantee that Google will remove that review. Plus, it takes some time for Google to analyze your request & remove a review from your business. 

Meanwhile, there are some approaches you can consider to get negative feedback removed.

1. Respond to customer reviews.

The best approach to dealing with customer reviews is responding to them. It shows that you value your customer feedback & are committed to addressing customer complaints. It will create a positive image of your business. And by responding to negative reviews, you can show your fantastic customer service. 

When you respond, it is essential to be calm & professional. Avoid arguing with customers & try to understand the customer’s perspective while giving a solution.

2. Ask the customer to delete the review.

As a digital agency that provides online reputation management services, we do not recommend this approach. It is not ethical to ask customers to delete their opinion & experience about your business. 

Asking customers to delete their negative reviews can damage trust and credibility. Customers respect honest and neutral feedback when making purchasing decisions. 

Instead of requesting customers to delete their negative reviews, consider replying to them.

3. Solve customer problems.

This approach is also one of the best approaches to handling negative customer reviews. In this approach, you can identify customers’ issues & address those. 

You can study the negative reviews you got, & understand the reasons for their issues. Then you can reach out to them to get more details. 

Keep honest and transparent communication with the customer throughout the problem-solving approach. Keep them notified and give realistic timelines for solving the matter. 

By addressing problems, you can increase customer loyalty & improve your reputation.

On this guide you learn how to remove a Google review step-by-step. If you are business owner, maintaining a positive image about your business on online platforms is essential. Google reviews play a major role in how potential customers see your business. So, learn how to remove a Google review that harm the image of your business.