Flagging Fake/Inappropriate Reviews on Google, Facebook and more

Flagging Fake/Inappropriate Reviews on Google, Facebook and more

Characteristics of a Fake Review
  1. The customer isn’t in your CRM system.
  2. There are no customer service calls on record.
  3. Lack of details (e.g., they haven’t named any specific employees).
  4. You noticed a surge of negative reviews in a short period of time.
  5. The reviewer recommended a competitor in their complaint, or there’s a connection between the reviewer and a competitor.

Types of Malicious / Fake Reviews
  1. Spam, impersonation, self-promotion, advertising.
  2. Conflict of interest (it’s a competitor, former employee, affiliated with business, paid review).
  3. Hate-speech, harassment, bullying, threats, violence, or self-harm related content.
  4. Profanity, offensive language, graphic, sexual or highly sensitive content.
  5. Intellectual property infringement, copyrighted or illegal content.
  6. Not focused on the reviewers’ own customer experience.
  7. Content determined to be private or that could compromise security.

Flagging a Review


Respond Before Flagging

As a business owner, you should always respond reviews – positive and negative. In the case of negative or fake reviews, this should ideally happen within the next 24 hrs.

By responding, you show your current and prospective clients that you care, that you are dedicated to resolving complaints, and that you take reviews seriously. 

Even if you can remove the review, it might take a few days for this to happen. So, by responding you are presenting both sides of the story providing potential customers the opportunity to learn the truth.


Make Your Case in Advance

Your removal request may bounce. So, while you wait for the answer to your removal request, put together a clear, concise explanation as to why the review should be removed.

First, document the URL of the review. To do this, click on the name of the user that left the review, then select the review itself, and when you only see your review under the person’s name, copy the URL. You’ll need this to get help from the Support Team.

Prepare the following information:
  1. Your business name, address, phone number, website URL, and Google Maps link.
  2. State why you feel the review is false (again, be calm and remain professional)
  3. State how the review violates their policies and should be removed
  4. Prepare any images, links, or documentation that helps to back-up your claim
  5. Get your Case or Reference ID.

Flagging the Review in Every Major Platform

Google – Maps & GMB (Google My Business)


Google Maps is the easiest way to flag and report a fake review on the Google Platform. To flag the review on desktop, bring up the review and click on the flag next to the review. Click the three vertical dots on the right side of the Google business review and select “flag as inappropriate.” If you can, have several people flag the review in question. Wait at least 3 days before moving on to the next steps.


 
You can also watch a quick video HERE. 
  1. If you don’t hear anything after 3 days, follow these steps:
  2. Visit your account (or GMB) profile.
  3. Click on the “support” option.
  4. After clicking “support,” a help box will pop up. To email and dispute a review, you might need to click through the following list of help topics:
  5. Need more help >
  6. Customer reviews and photos >
  7. Manage customer reviews >
  8. Email support


Facebook


Flagging a review on Facebook is the same process as Google. Facebook explains what they consider to be inappropriate content in their Facebook Community Standards  

Yelp

If you haven’t claimed your business on Yelp, create an account using email@yourwebsite.com and claim the business so you can have more control about future reviews. The removal can sometimes take from 15 to 60 days.

When flagging the review, it will prompt you for an explanation section where you will submit the information you already gathered to make your case.

If that doesn’t work then you can email all the details to feedback@yelp.com.
     


Ask for help in the Help Community Forums


A Top Reviews Contributor or Community Leafer may be able to look at your problem and escalate it if it finds it appropriate. Head to the Spam & Policy (or other corresponding) section and create a post in:


Then wait for a reply. There are a lot of threads in these communities and it may take time to get a response. The case you created for every platform earlier, along with any escalation from previous attempts, will help greatly to your success.


Ask Happy Customers to submit positive new reviews on top to bury negative ones.

The best way to overshadow a negative review is to drown it out with praise. Ask your best / new / recently satisfied customers to leave a review and show your gratitude to the ones who do. Check out our article on How to Get More Online Reviews. 

 

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