How to remove bad Google reviews for your business

Bad reviews can tank your rating on Google, driving customers away by making your business look completely untrustworthy. Since it’s all about averages, single-star reviews don’t take long to have a negative effect either. So, you need to handle them fast to protect your business reputation. Fortunately, you can easily remove bad Google reviews in just three simple steps.

Valid Reasons to Remove Google Reviews

There are many valid reasons to have Google remove negative reviews about your company, such as:

• Doesn’t pertain to your brand
• Spam from bots and other fake accounts
• Association with competitor companies
• Profanity, bullying, and harassment
• Discrimination or hate speech
• Inclusion of personal information
• A lack of truly helpful insights

You may also request the removal of a review if the content poses a legal issue, including copyright infringement.

How to Remove Bad Google Reviews

Google offers a rather streamlined process for removing bad, fake, or otherwise inappropriate reviews. Just follow these three easy steps.

1. Find the Google Review You Want to Remove

Keep a close eye on your Google reviews each month. That way, you can act fast when it’s time to have one removed. Sort by ‘Newest’ each time to get the most recent reviews in front of you. Then, fully review their content to find any in need of removal.

2. Report the Review to Start the Removal Process
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To remove the review, click on the three dots on the upper righthand side of the comment. Select ‘Report review’ to start the removal process. The system will take you to the next step right away.  

3. Let Google Know Why the Review Should Get Removed
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Select from the available options to let Google know why you think the review needs to get removed. Read through the list carefully to find the best match. Getting it right will help make sure that the removal happens the first time around. 

After that, you just have to submit your request and wait it out.
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Quick Note for Legal Concerns

When it comes to legal concerns, report the problem by selecting the ‘Report a legal issue’ link at the bottom of the list. Then, let them know what type of issue you’d like to report.
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After that, follow the additional instructions that pop up to submit your complaint. You may need to go to a different form to finish the request.

Wait for the Removal of the Google Review

Give Google about 14 days to review your request and take action. During that time, you can point out the problem to other people and ask them to submit a removal request as well. The extra support will go a long way in encouraging the platform to remove the review at once.

If the review doesn’t get taken down, you may need to report the problem to the Small Business Support team at Google. They will make a decision on the matter within 24 hours of your email, call, or web chat session. 

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