While advertising is still very powerful today, consumers have more access to product information than ever before and often rely on personal recommendations and reviews from other users. Google has become such a natural part of our lives that we almost automatically refer to it. when choosing a restaurant, choosing a travel destination, looking for a car wash, and whatever you have on hand.
So, if you run any business, good reviews on Google can help you build a reliable reputation and increase sales, increase brand awareness and reach your target audience more easily. But what happens when you get a bad review on Google? A single bad review can help improve your business, build trust in your audience, perfect your service/product, etc. Does it jeopardize all the efforts you put into it? One or a few bad reviews rather than lots of good ones will likely not harm your business in any way. A few bad reviews can even help you appear more trustworthy – rarely anyone today believes in the image of perfection. On the other hand, if you’re just starting out and one of the few reviews you’ve received is bad, you’d probably do better without it.
With all that in mind, in this post we’ll show you how to delete a comment on Google, as well as explore why you might be getting bad reviews and what you can do about them other than deleting them. Stay with us to learn more about:
Google reviews have a reputation for being unbiased and are therefore trusted by many. However, this does not mean that your business is protected from malicious and unfair reviews from a competitor or an unrealistically demanding consumer. You may receive many types of bad reviews that can harm your business and do not fully reflect the quality you offer. These include:
While such bad reviews are often obviously fake and have nothing to do with your business, they can deeply annoy your potential consumers. It is natural for a consumer to want to stay away from threatening content that has nothing to do with himself or the product/service they are looking for.
Fortunately, the Google Review policy takes all these and many similar situations into account, so it’s possible to delete such bad reviews. However, you will need to be able to prove that these are against the Google Comments guidelines.
Let’s say you’re not sure if a bad review you’ve received is actually against Google’s review guidelines. In this case, a quick way to check Consider how damaging the review is to potential consumers as well as damaging your business’s reputation.. Not liking the criticism you receive is not enough. We recommend that you read through to make sure you have the right to report the review. Google’s review guidelines and see how the problematic review you received fits into Google’s definition of harmful content.
There are five criteria for classifying the content of reviews as prohibited or restricted by Google’s review policy. If the content infringes a civil speech, is deceptive, is obscene or violent, is dangerous or illegal, or if the quality of the information is questionable, you have reason to ask for the review to be deleted.
In general, you can consider Google a friend of your business when it comes to reviews. It even offers free digital Marketing Kit It consists of posters, stickers, social posts and other types of content to help you encourage your consumers to leave reviews.
The whole concept of Google reviews is to promote honesty and provide objective information for consumers. Thus, arbitrary censorship of reviews is simply not possible, as it directly contradicts the idea of ensuring objectivity. If you honestly and fairly deserve a bad review, the only way to fix the situation is to explain the bug or improve your product/service. But, In most other cases, when the bad review is not justified, you can count on Google’s protection.
You cannot delete a review written by someone else on Google without approval from Google. The first step to deleting a review is to bring it to Google’s attention. This practically means: you must report the review to Google.
To flag a comment, go to: Google My Business Go to their account and select the business the review is referring to. Of course, if you only have one business associated with your Google My Business Account, there is no choice to be made. The next step is to select the reviews you want to mark. You will see a three-dot menu next to the targeted review. Click on it and then select flag as inappropriate. Now, the disturbing review is being reported to Google.
Google has no way of knowing how quickly it will react, but it usually takes less than 24 hours for a review to be deleted. One way to speed up the process is to ask others to flag the selected review, because the more people find it offensive, the better the chance for Google to react quickly.
Steps to Take If Waiting for Google’s Response Takes Too Long
Don’t worry if it takes too long for Google to act. You also have the option to contact Google Small Business Support by visiting: www.support.google.com/business page. Clearly state the reason for reaching us by typing remove reviews in the designated field.
You will be redirected to the page with more information on removing comments and will also be given the option to contact the Help Center via email.
The entire process of reporting an issue with reviews is intuitive and you’ll be prompted automatically when you start it. After your report is submitted, you can expect to receive initial feedback in about 24 hours.
You can make many different kinds of mistakes, and it’s a mistake anyone can make to post a review that doesn’t do yours or anyone else’s work, doesn’t make much sense, or is simply outdated or unnecessary for any other reason. Make. In terms of Google reviews, Google makes it much easier to right your own wrong than to wrong others, so deleting a review you’ve posted on Google is simple and easy.
Sign in to your Google account to remove your own comment on Google. It doesn’t matter if you’re signed into Gmail, the Chrome browser, or any other Google service – the procedure can be done from any of these sign-in screens. Next, go to Google Maps. You will see a three-line menu in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click on it and select Your Contributions from the menu.
This will open the section with all your reviews. Find and select the ones you want to delete, and then click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the review and select the Delete option from the popup menu. You will also be given the option to edit the review. The choice is up to you.
And that’s it. You don’t need to wait for Google approval to delete your own comment. Everything is done in just a few clicks.
Starting a business and building a solid reputation is not easy. If the first thing that comes to your mind when you see a bad comment is to delete it as soon as possible, that’s a perfectly normal reaction. But, Note that even if the review is bad, deleting it may not be the best way to deal with it. Not every bad review poses a serious threat to your reputation. Sometimes you can correct the situation by responding to the review calmly and reasonably. Admitting a mistake and showing the will to make up for it can do wonders for your public image. You also always have the option of contacting the person leaving the review directly to seek clarification or offer compensation.
In situations where you think a review could seriously damage your business’s image and reputation, it’s wise to use the PR crisis approach. Many big brands have managed to completely repair their reputations thanks to clever tactics designed by specialist PR agencies. Of course, you probably won’t hire a PR agency because of a few bad reviews, but You can learn a lot about protecting your brand image just by examining how some famous companies have managed their PR crises.
Bad reviews are often very triggering, and that’s what you need to focus on – stay cool, avoid arguments, and don’t try to cleverly beat the already dissatisfied consumer. If the fault is truly yours, feel free to admit it. While it may not feel good right now, this type of attitude can actually increase your credibility in the long run.
In conclusion
A bad review is a reminder that you should always have a prepared tactic for responding when faced with criticism or any other type of crisis that threatens your business reputation. By staying prepared, you also minimize the possibility of under-reacting and making the situation worse. You’re probably aware of your business weaknesses, so it can be very helpful to come up with a few scenarios that include the kinds of bad criticism you may receive and the best course of action you can take to minimize the consequences.
It’s safe to say that Google will back you up if you get reviews that are not only bad, but potentially harmful to consumers and internet users in general. Since you can certainly handle objective but not flattering reviews, the smart thing you can always do is focus on the quality of your offer rather than worrying about a few bad reviews.
