Customer reviews are a valuable lead conquering tool. They're created past your customers and they inform potential leads how well your product or service performs compared to your marketing messaging. Leads who are interested in your brand can trust this feedback equally an unbiased guide for whether or not to do concern with your visitor.

Here's the problem.

Not all customer reviews are written by customers. Some people write fake reviews as a way to promote or slander a brand. Some companies volition even post faux reviews near their competitors as a way to get a leg up in their industry.

And, it's not as uncommon equally you may recollect.

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82% of consumers take read a false customer review in the concluding year. This tin be a real problem for brands that rely on third-political party review sites, similar Google Reviews, to attract new customers. On Google, anyone can write a fake review that goes public instantly upon submission.

And, since Google is a third-political party site, businesses can't just take the review down. They need to go through Google'south reviewal process to appeal the fake review.

In this post, let'southward hash out how to spot fake Google Reviews then we'll listing the steps you'll need to remove them in one case you discover them.

ane. Pay attention to the details in the review.

Fake reviews can sometimes be hard to spot, peculiarly when the reviewer doesn't want you to know it'southward fake.

Luckily, truth is one advantage that yous'll take on your side. If a review is imitation, the reviewer has to write a disarming message that persuades others that they really interacted with your business. This ways they need to provide specific details as to why their experience was negative.

False reviews will oft mention details that take cipher to do with the complaint. For example, one report found that fake hotel reviews often included more data almost the reviewer's family than information technology did virtually the hotel experience.

Since the reviewer doesn't have a real interaction to write about, the details they'll fabricate volition focus more on their personal stories.

2. Expect at the complexity of the words.

To write a deceptive message, reviewers need to employ more cognitive role than they would if they were telling the truth. Since they're creating fictional details in their minds, their brains need to work harder than they would if they were recalling a recent memory.

This extra work typically results in a message that uses simpler wording. In fact, inquiry indicates that when reviewers endeavor to be deceptive, they're more likely to utilise words that aren't as long or complex. That's because their focus is on creating a conceivable story, rather than flexing their vocabulary.

3. Check for repeated assertion points.

Another common theme of fake customer reviews is the repeated use of assertion points. One report from MIT found that deceptive reviews often contain more assertion points than genuine reviews.

Imitation reviewers believe that past adding these marks, they'll emphasize the negative emotions behind their feedback. Yet, truthful reviews are more than likely to focus on the actual events that were negative, rather than how the reviewer is feeling in the moment. After all, if a customer is sincerely upset with your visitor, they'll want to provide thoughtful, actionable feedback instead of actualization like they're overreacting to the state of affairs.

4. Examine the reviewer'due south name and avatar.

Ane clear giveaway can be the proper noun and avatar associated with the review. Since Google Reviews require an email address, people who leave false reviews will often create fake accounts.

Bank check the reviewer's proper noun and avatar. While it'southward non guaranteed to reveal the actuality of the review, you might take hold of a competitor trying to pull a fast one, similar in the example below.

remove-Google-review

Epitome Source

5. See if the reviewer has reviewed other businesses.

Another way to check the account'southward legitimacy is to see if they've reviewed other businesses, especially ones in your industry. If the user has no other reviews or seems to constantly avowal virtually a specific competitor, at that place'southward a better take chances the review is fake.

To bank check, navigate to the review and click on the reviewer'due south proper name. This should launch a side panel that shows you all of the reviews the person has left, similar to the image below.

Google Reviews

In this view, you tin can see the businesses that the person has reviewed likewise as any photos that the reviewer has uploaded. You can also assess their "contribution points" which are added as the person submits more reviews. The higher the number of points, the more likely that the review is real.

6. Look at how frequently the reviewer leaves reviews.

Using that same interface shown above, you should likewise check to run into how oft the person leaves reviews. People who are paid to write faux reviews oftentimes submit them in bulk, then create a new account to avoid detection.

Fortunately, you can apply the business relationship summary to check when reviews were left. If you notice that the reviewer has left multiple reviews on the same day, the reviews are likely false.

7. Flag reviews without comments.

Google allows users to submit reviews without describing their experience. Users can rate your business organisation on a i- to 5-star scale without having to justify their reasoning. This makes it easier for deceptive reviewers to leave fake reviews and harder for your business to catch them.

As a general rule of pollex, you lot should flag all negative reviews that don't include a annotate. While some of these may be genuine, your about valuable reviews are ones that explicate why your business is great or why it fell curt of expectations. Reviews without comments don't offer much to other customers or your business organization, so they're worth investigating if you lot doubtable they're fake.

At present that yous know how to spot a fake review, allow's talk near how yous can remove information technology.

1. Make up one's mind if the customer review is faux.

Since Google Reviews doesn't give you the option to outright delete a review, you'll have to get through its formal reviewal procedure if y'all suspect a review is imitation. This can take some time as Google needs to process your request and decide if it's legitimate enough to accept down the review. Keep in mind that it'south no guarantee that the review volition exist removed and you lot may take to reach out to the reviewer straight to resolve the result.

We'll talk more near that afterward in this post.

2. Log into Google My Business

If y'all decide to go through Google'due south removal process, the kickoff stride is logging into your Google My Business organisation account. From there you lot should take admission to all of your company's reviews.

3. Navigate to the reviews tab.

Once you're logged in, the next pace is to navigate to your reviews tab. Y'all can access that folio by clicking on the "Reviews" option in the lefthand menu shown below.

Google My Business

One clicked, this should have you to a listing of all the reviews for your business organisation.

four. Select the review yous'd like to flag.

Your review page should look something similar this:

Google My Business Reviews

Image Source

From hither, scroll through the list and locate the review you'd like to flag. If you're having trouble finding it, you can sort this list using the bar carte du jour at the acme.

five. Cull the "flag as inappropriate" option.

Once you discover the review in question, click on the 3 stacked dots located on the far correct of the review. That should launch a drib-down bill of fare where you tin can select the "flag as inappropriate" pick.

Flag As Inappropriate

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6. Consummate the follow-upwardly survey.

Afterwards you flag the review, Google will want to know why. It'll take you to a follow-up survey where you lot can provide more information virtually the request. Information technology provides you with a multiple-choice listing where you can select the reasoning that'due south near relevant to your review. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide an option to justify your response, but if Google decides it wants more than information, it'll follow upwardly via email.

Google Review Response

7. Respond to the customer review.

After you lot file your request, the final step is to respond to the review. Regardless if the review is simulated or existent, you should respond to all of your customer reviews. Not only will you lot have some time earlier Google processes your request, but you can also showcase your excellent customer service skills by proactively reaching out to the client.

When you exercise respond, see if you can reconcile the state of affairs. Apologize for any inconvenience your business concern may take caused and provide options that will help the customer reach their initial goals. If the review is imitation, the reviewer probably won't respond your message. But, if it'southward real, the client volition be interested in what your company has to say.

Now that we have negative feedback covered, larn how to reply to positive reviews.

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Originally published May xi, 2020 8:00:00 AM, updated June 15 2021