Having fake negative reviews on Google is a huge problem for brands, especially for those who run a small online business and have started to make a mark in their segment. In the online world, it is very easy for anyone to create an account, and people misuse this opportunity to leave negative comments on Google for a business website with which they had nothing to do. Sometimes, this is also used as a black-hat SEO trick to thrash the online reputation of competitors.
Google has lots of policies for the users who leave reviews. However, Google is not able to automatically spot the users who leave negative ratings and reviews, especially when they do not violate any of their policies. Therefore, you need to be smart enough to track such reviews, and get rid of such fake comments by contacting Google on Facebook, Twitter, or reporting the same through their support forum.
Challenges Regarding the Fake Negative Reviews On Google
As said, anyone can leave a review on Google on any company. They do not need to have a “customer experience” like dropping by at your place, browsing around, or trying to contact, etc., but still can post a review on your “quality of service”. This is the biggest challenge when it comes to fake negative reviews.
It is also seen that some users only give a 1 star rating to express negativity towards a brand, without commenting anything. These kinds of ratings are the most difficult to remove because there is no text in it, as Google may tell you that they did not use any profanity or bad language to violate their guidelines.
You may easily understand which reviews are real as you know about the quality of your service, and your customers. However, Google does not really know who your clients are, and hence, if you write to them “this wasn’t a customer”, Google will deny the request of removing their reviews. Apparently, you cannot prove someone’s identity to them.
Responding to the Dilemma
It is kind of disappointing when you work hard for building a good business but some unknown person has the ability to destroy your business by posting negative reviews. One thing you can do to solve this issue is to post the reviews on Facebook or Twitter to see the response you receive. If you have good brand recognition, there will be enough customers, who trust your products or services. Any of your clients who have had a business deal with you may respond against the negative reviews.
Aside from posting the issue on social media, reporting the fake negative comments to Google could mostly solve the problem. If not, an idea you can try is to post a reply to the negative reviews mentioning that you can give them a full refund. There is absolutely no problem in doing so, because such fake people never bought anything from you, which means you do not have to refund anything actually.
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