Has anyone had success removing a poor Google review for a client?

thecomputerguy

thecomputerguy

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Client calls me about a bad review through Google he got about 20 weeks ago. I went and took ownership of his business through his personal google account to try and start the process.

It looks like the steps a basically to 1.) respond to the poor review 2.) flag the review as inappropriate 3.) followup with Google by phone.

Is there anything else that can be done? I know the poor review typical has to violate their TOS guidelines to actually be removed and unfortunately I don't know if the review violates the TOS (https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114) since it seems like the person had a bad experience with my client and not only wrote poor review but a seriously slanderous one accusing him of stealing multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.
 
thecomputerguy said:
Client calls me about a bad review through Google he got about 20 weeks ago. I went and took ownership of his business through his personal google account to try and start the process.

It looks like the steps a basically to 1.) respond to the poor review 2.) flag the review as inappropriate 3.) followup with Google by phone.

Is there anything else that can be done? I know the poor review typical has to violate their TOS guidelines to actually be removed and unfortunately I don't know if the review violates the TOS (https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114) since it seems like the person had a bad experience with my client and not only wrote poor review but a seriously slanderous one accusing him of stealing multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Actually I just looked at the bad review again and it completely violates the TOS specifically this:

"
sQu_NgXE0qF8Z6mhPJ7JwujwKhn853faQ7CxO0fFIth8OYvIRiXVETMPUYySAKf446v8=w18
Posting content about a competitor to manipulate their ratings."

Since the reviewer recommended other Lawyers in his review, it should be a slam dunk I think.
 
Not sure if it actually gets you to someone but:

Find ways to speed up the process. Apart from flagging the review using your Google My Business dashboard, you can also expedite the process of deleting a Google review by requesting callback, requesting chat, or emailing support. Here’s how:

  • On Google My Business, click Menu, scroll down and look for Support.
  • A popup will appear, look for Contact Us, and click Need More Help.
  • Choose Customer Reviews and Photos > Manage Customer Reviews.
  • Choose from any of the three contact options: request callback, request chat, or email support.
 
I tried getting one removed for us that I could prove was fake, because it was a copy and paste with the name changed from a few months before for a different company and they still wouldn't remove it.
 
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Slaters Kustum Machines said:
I tried getting one removed for us that I could prove was fake, because it was a copy and paste with the name changed from a few months before and they still wouldn't remove it.
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Bummer that sucks bigtime.

The user who reviewed my client decided to defame my client and then continue to recommend other lawyers in the area. If he would have left it at defamation then he might have gotten away with it but by violating Google's TOS due to conflict of interest I think this one will be an easy case.
 
Unfortunately it seems that we have to eat shitty reviews. Instead of fighting to remove bad/fraud reviews, rebutte the review. There are TONS of articles out there on how to reply to them. Some companies pull off the sarcastic 'you're a POS liar', but mostly a passive call-out makes a lot more. Most people don't just jump on the start rating, because most people are sitting at a 4-5 anyways; They go in and look at the bad reviews. If they see polite and cordial responses, either addressing actual bad reviews with an attempt to solicit them into fixing it, or addressing flat-out fraudy reviews by asking them for further details/invoice number/ticket number.

From a lawyer's point of view, you could have a funny spin using the lack of client-attorney privilege to play it up. I know that likely couldn't respond to negative reviews from legit sources.
 
I've gotten several bad reviews removed from my business, but the only reason Google removed them was that the reviewer was clearly meaning to write a bad review of another business. I've also had a prank review removed. It was just some idiot rambling on about the color of the sky and how much he wanted to f*ck some woman. He was either insane or it was just a prank review. Either way, I got it removed.
 
sapphirescales said:
I've gotten several bad reviews removed from my business, but the only reason Google removed them was that the reviewer was clearly meaning to write a bad review of another business. I've also had a prank review removed. It was just some idiot rambling on about the color of the sky and how much he wanted to f*ck some woman. He was either insane or it was just a prank review. Either way, I got it removed.
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Your scenario I think is different. That said, as they said here, they said that they mentioned another business, which should negate the review. end of the day, how much time to jump through hoops do you want?

That said... My Little Pony???
 
MudRock said:
That said... My Little Pony???
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Yeah, why not? My last avatar was Spyro. I've always been into animated stuff. My Little Pony is one of my favorite shows. I'm not going to use my logo here so I might as well choose something I like.

seedubya said:
I hope you're not kink-shaming!!
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No kinky sh*t here. Just into the show. I don't consider myself a "Brony" and I'm not involved in the community.
 
Interesting, I noticed that the negative review disappeared for us. Really odd. Google said they wouldn't remove it because it didn't violate their terms, but without notice it's gone.
 
Slaters Kustum Machines said:
Interesting, I noticed that the negative review disappeared for us. Really odd. Google said they wouldn't remove it because it didn't violate their terms, but without notice it's gone.
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Maybe the fake account used to post the review was flagged elsewhere, which resulted in the account and anything associated with it being removed.
 
The best bet is to flag it and have others flag it. Each flagging will force a review, but it's completely random like most things with Google and Facebook.

But consider a few bad reviews make things authentic. Nobody is perfect all the time and there is a certain degree of crazy in the world. For as business to fully avoid any bad reviews is unlikely.

If the review is off-the-rails and accuses the person of being Satan reborn, that's good. Anyone reading it would see the person as not credible, but they'd also see the reviews are real. If the accusation was something reasonable and polite, it would have more authority.
 
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