Report a Negative Review for Removal – New Google My Business Update

With Google’s newest tool, you can check the recent reviews posted for your business and the status of the negative reviews you have reported previously. Not only this, the tool allows you to see the summary of your report rejection and escalate it further in case you feel that the review violates Google policies. This new tool has brought a major relief to local business owners and SEO practitioners as it has made the process more organized. Earlier, there was no option offered by Google to keep a tab on the status of reviews that you have requested for a take down.

What you can request for the removal

You cannot flag just about any review, it has to violate Google policies which include spam and fake content, terrorist content, impersonation, illegal content, off-topic, offensive detail, conflict of interest, among others. If Google sees that your requested review complies with its policies or legal obligations, then it takes the appropriate action. It does not remove reviews that you disagree with or have received incorrect factual information as there is no reliable way to verify such information.

The need to remove negative reviews

Well, it is disappointing to see that an anonymous person has the power to destroy what has taken you to build, probably, years. While it is not possible to get every negative review removed since there is no proof of reviews being genuine, Google gives you an option to request for the removal of reviews that defy its policies. In other cases, you can just show your creativity. There are a lot of business owners who post their negative reviews on their social media handles and turn them into something funny as a joke never kills anyone. Some businesses also take an account of the genuine negative reviews and makeup to their customers since one bad experience can go a long way. With Google not able to test the genuineness of a review, you can still turn the ball in your court.

The difference the new tool has made

As we discussed that a negative review can do some serious damage to your reputation and that is why the need to get them removed is really necessary, the new tool comes in handy to check the status of your requests. Not only that, but it also gives an option to see recent reviews that you have received. However, it was reported that only some reviews will be shown and the feature only works for accounts that have a small number of listings. As one of the users who had 33 listings tried and the message displayed said, ‘Based on the number of Business Profiles you manage, this process is not available.’ Therefore, it is recommended that you use it if you have less number of listings.

Steps to Report a Problematic Review

Step 1. The first step is to select your business, then choose the option of either submitting a new report for a review takedown or check the status of a review you have already escalated.

Step 2. Post selecting the option of submitting a new report, you will be shown some recent reviews that you can check on Google Maps or report a problem with any of them.

Step 3. If you have selected the option of checking the status of the previous requests made by you, then all those reviews will be displayed on the screen with their current status.

Step 4. Google gives you an option to see a summary of your report on why it is being rejected or accepted. It also allows you to submit an appeal called a one-time escalation if your request was not accepted.

With this new tool, you can see the status of your requests in an organized fashion and if you provide local SEO services to your clients who are going impatient with these negative reviews, you can show them the status and also the reason in case of a rejection of a request. Also, those who frequently report reviews will find this tool useful because managing your reports has never been more organized. This option by Google has undoubtedly made the review management for SEO services in India a lot easier.