Remove a Bad Review in Google

Posted in Blog by Ben Vandrunen, on August 9, 2009 | 22 Comments

Bad reviews in Google Local Business Center, Yahoo! Local, MSN Live Maps, Yelp or any other online destination are a serious matter to the business and to potential customers who read them. There are many things you can do to reduce the amount of bad reviews you get and a few things you can do to remove bad reviews in Google (or elsewhere). However, the best action you can take to minimize the impact of a bad review is to simply acquire numerous positive reviews.

How to Remove a Bad Review in Google

This tutorial will show you how to manage bad reviews and obtain positive reviews. If you do receive a bad review and for good reason, we recommend working with your colleagues to minimize future similar reviews by any means possible.

How to Remove Bad Reviews in Google Local

The Google Local Business Center (GLBC) and Google Maps channels offer searchers an alternative to traditional and online Yellow Pages. Because the search engines offer the ability for users to critique businesses via reviews, it puts non-internet savvy business owners at a disadvantage against malicious competitors and unintentionally dissatisfied customers.

If you find your listing victimized by these perpetrators, the first thing to do is to not panic. Here are some ways you can help eliminate these reviews from the search results:

  • If your negative review comes from a 3rd party website, such as TouchLocal.com, Yelp.com or CitySearch.com, you can contest the review at the source.
  • If the review comes directly from a Google user, you can incentivize the patron to remove the listing with a discount coupon or complimentary service. These types of customers will typically change their review to positive if the service was better the second time around.
  • You can ask new customers to post positive reviews if they were happy with your service, and tactfully select “No” next to the question “Was this review helpful?” if they disagree with the negative review.

Below is a snapshot of a negative review in Google Local Business Center. We’ve circled the “No” to have happy customers help you remove the negative review.

Click No to Help Remove a Bad Review from Google

How to Get Positive Reviews in Google

These techniques to get more positive reviews in Google also work for Yahoo! Local, CitySearch.com and other business review websites and is very easy. Try one or all to get better reviews to bury those negative ones that never seem to go away.

  • Have a takeaway postcard with a discount coupon good on the next visit for customers you know had a good experience.
  • Capture your customers’ email addresses and send out periodic discounts and offers. Mention on the offer to please give positive reviews by clicking a link that takes them directly to the page to leave a review.
  • Give free workshops and hold customer appreciation events. Have a computer on site and ask patrons if they wouldn’t mind doing a video testimonial and/or give a quick review of the business on one destination (such as Google Local Business Center).
  • Hold or participate in charity events and capture emails of those people who used a service or purchased a product, then follow up with a coupon and link to the review pages of choice.

Removing and burying bad reviews from Google can be extremely frustrating. Remember not to panic, do your best to contest the review or incentivize the reviewer, and focus as much as possible on getting every satisfied customer to post a positive review.

Great tips like these are always available through your Local Splash local SEO services Account Manager. Call us today to learn more about extended SEO services.

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  • http://JamesMcWhorter.com James McWhorter

    I’m helping a friend get a malicious bad review from their Google Business Listing. I found this article and video during my search. Great advice, and thanks!

  • Veronica

    T’m trying to find a way to remove bad reviews in business listing. Can you help me?

    Thanks!

    • http://googlemaps ann

      write a complaint to the attorney general-they have a department that handles google complaints

  • http://castlehillbeautysalons samira

    beauty at the towers review has one bad review i want to remove…how can i remove…

  • http://facebook jennifer gonzales

    I would like to create a facebook for our business but would like to moniter all comments that are posted to prevent anything negetive from being posted. How do I do that? Thank you for your time and help..

  • Joe Galore

    Here’s what you do: quit doing bad business. The beauty of information on the internet is that it is easily available. Usually it is negatively biased because more often there is no other way to deal with the frustration of bad business than to voice about it in a review. Unfortunately, less often do people rave about good service. People have to keep this in mind when the search through reviews. It’s just the way it is.

    • Fer Waika

      It’s clear that you do not have a business. Few customers, even the happy ones, take the time to write a review. But you can be sure that your closest competitors, fired employees and even a jealous neighbor will take plenty of time to carefully write a damaging review that will last forever. Reviews is a good tool, but should not be anonymous and the reviewers should take responsibility for them.

      • carmen

        Fer Waika is absolutely right. A review is a tool, and as any tool can be used as it was intended or can be misused. A agree 100% with Waika.

      • http://googlemaps ann

        absolutely right! i would encourage anyone with a problem to write the attorney general, and file complaint against google

      • brigitte

        I own an online business for 10 years and the only 2 people who have ever left us bad reviews have been a competitor and a lady who used a stolen credit card and was caught, we reported it, so in her craziness she made up a really bad review. Just to get revenge. It seems the only people who take the time to be nasty are that 3%, or so, of the population who are always angry and pick fights. Some customers are so rude there is nothing you can do to make it OK.
        They should NOT be anonymous, there should be a law about this.
        I think it is time to start that to protect us. I would like to hire people, as would a lot of small businesses, but when this happens it effects your sales. I’m scared to move forward not knowing what these reviews will do. I’m sure this is the case for MANY , not good for our economy either.

        • Ange

          I agree with many of you. Brigitte, I am going through the same thing. I had a client who wanted me to resign so that she wouldnt have to pay the termination fee. I refused. SO she has slandered me left and right. She refuses to leave her name. Its on a yahoo listing I have. She filed a complaint with the BBB. She is the only person to file anything complaint or compliment. This lady has no honest issue with me. I managed her property, increased her rental income and the tenants has never paid late. She told me that since the tenants are so great I am being paid for nothing and that she wanted to manage her property herself. Well she wanted 100% of the INCREASED rent. Greedy. SHe paid me to get out of her contract and has threatened to file a complaint against my license if I dont pay her so many thousands of dollars. She sends me harrassing emails and texts. She is relentless. She makes me cringe. I dont have the time to stop and deal with her. I owe her nothing. This has been years ago. Everytime I get a compliment she leaves a bad review and sopies and past the BBB review from her and its a mess. I absolutely hate this. I have done so much for people. I have decreased my commission to increase clients chances at getting a property. I have given back to the community from transactions Ive closed but you dont hear about this. This lady is a thorn in my side. If she had anything worth standing on she would have filed a complaing with the licensing board.

          • Summer

            @Ange, I would hire an attorney for ala carte services to send her a cease and desist notice. Best $100 to $150 you’ll ever spend.

  • http://www.straightlinemoving.com David

    I think that Google allowing anyone to do a review can be a bad thing. People act out of emotion. The latest customer that added a bad review, never even consulted management (myself) and made me aware of the problem. I learned of it by reading the Google reviews myself a time later.

    The public should not be allowed to trash small business over any little disappointment they feel they had and it just stay up forever for everyone to see, even as there is new management and so on! It is a fundamentally dangerous move by google and hurt small business. I guess I will promote my business elsewhere!

  • http://www.straightlinemoving.com David

    It should be up to the business whether or not they would like Google to have a review option on their website.

  • jason

    I made a bad decision , after arguing with the owner where I work , I gave an innaccurate and bad review , ( I know , childish) I want to remove it , though Ive gone back and gave a good review now , the old stupid one still remains, can someone please help me , before I get fired ??

    • scarter

      Jason,

      I’m not sure where you left the bad review but most review sites (like Yelp) allow you to edit or delete your review as long as you are the one who posted it. Just make sure you are signed in using the same login information you did when you first wrote the review then edit or delete it.

      Sarah Carter
      Marketing Communications Specialist
      Local Splash

  • CW

    I’m surprised you even wrote a blog post about “removing” bad reviews. Attempting to having them removed can actually blacklist a business from the search engines if its discovered. Sure you can “incentivize” someone to change/remove their review, but that’s not the smartest way of doing business. Besides the fact that if word gets around that enough customers are being incentivized to edit their review, it doesn’t necessarily help put the business owner in a positive light. When the review is posted, its there, PERIOD & only the person who put it there can edit/remove it.
    Other than that, the “how to get positive reviews” section was some great content.

  • http://readingsbychristopher.com christopher scott

    I have done every thing I can to get these 3 or 4 negative/ evil lies removed. I even went so far being desperate that I got ripped off 800.00 dollars by a company that said they could get them removed. Just got ripped off. It is deffinately affecting my career and buisness. Please, get back to me w/ a real person to talk/work with on this dire matter.My ph. #614-449-6473. I hope and pray for your help. Christopher Scott

    • scarter

      Hi Christopher,

      The fact of the matter is, there is no way to delete a bad review. However
      you can push them further down on the list so they no longer appear on the
      first page. Filling your review website with positive reviews will make the
      bad ones obsolete. We have a whole section of our website dedicated to
      showing business owners like yourself how to get good reviews and how to
      deal with negative reviews. Please read over this section of our website
      and definitely watch the video, I believe it will help you.

      http://www.localsplash.com/get-business-reviews

      I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.

      Thanks for reading,
      Sarah

  • Sila

    I have SEVERAL good reviews for my business that are hidden and ONLY the 2 bad reviews are shown on the YELP site. This should be illegal. It does no good to try to out number the bad reviews with good ones because they WON’T SHOW THEM!!

    • scarter

      Sila,
      In Yelp’s case, you need to get people with established Yelp accounts to leave reviews. So if a customer already uses Yelp and writes reviews there, that is a customer you want to write you a positive review. If a customer creates an account just to leave you a review, odds are Yelp will hide it because it doesn’t find that account trustworthy yet. This is unfortunate and I agree, it’s very unfair because a customer may not use Yelp regularly but had such a great experience with your company, they want to leave you a review there. Luckily, not all review sites are as finicky as Yelp. Try having your customers leave you reviews on Google. The filter is not like Yelp’s and as long as the reviews aren’t spam and they are coming from unique IP addresses, they should stick.

      Sarah Carter
      Marketing Communications Specialist
      Local Splash

      • robyn

        What’s even more ridiculous is when a person does have an established yelp account, they are usually the ones who trash almost every small business they come in contact with…letting the crazy people have access to spread negativity. Sad.