How to Get Rid of Negative Reviews

Poor reviews can wreak havoc on your business. You may lose existing customers, or new customers might not even consider your services. This not only leads to a loss of trust but also affects your overall image. Negative or fake reviews can be detrimental to your business.

Don't let strangers have too much influence over your business by attaching bad or fake reviews to your profiles. This is also a part of Negative SEO.
 

Are bad reviews harmful?

In principle, a single bad review won't bring you down, and it doesn't signify the end of your career. Handling negative reviews is crucial. Responding to such reviews is an important virtue and should be mastered.

First and foremost, it's essential to identify bad reviews.
 

Monitoring - Keep an eye on your reviews

As your business grows, so do the number of reviews. Unfortunately, they are not always positive. To react promptly to valuable customer feedback, there are specific programs that help keep track of all portals simultaneously.
 

Monitor all review platforms to show a quick response to negative reviews. Check not only Google My Business but also other review platforms like Facebook or Yelp, if listed there. Tools like Yext or Uberall assist you in monitoring them.

If you are struggling with negative fake reviews and need assistance, we are here to help improve your online reputation. Contact us now.
 

Fake reviews are unlawful

On 14th November 2019, the Munich Regional Court announced that purchased fake reviews are unlawful. This resulted from a court case where the well-known travel portal HolidayCheck sued the company Fivestar Marketing. The sued company sold fake reviews to improve the image of services or businesses. Following the court's decision, the company had to retrospectively delete the forged reviews and disclose the source of the fake reviews.


Both parties are liable in the purchase and sale of fake reviews. This allows the seller and buyers to be costly warned. Such warnings can come from either the Consumer Protection Center or a direct competitor. Besides the costs of the warning, there may also be compensation, leading to an expensive affair.

Dealing with a bad online review: How to handle reputational damage?

The ability to leave reviews on the internet often results in the creation of negative reviews. Associated reputational damage reduces revenue and, in some cases, even leads to bankruptcy.


You have the following options:

1. Is it a negative fake review? You can try to identify the author and ask them to delete it. If they do not comply, you can take legal action against them.

2. Was the review posted anonymously? Address the negative review and counter its points. This shows that you value customer feedback and are not turning a blind eye.

3. Encourage your guests to write authentic reviews. If positive reviews outweigh the negative ones, they will not carry as much weight.

Good reviews: How to handle positive reviews?

Always respond to a good review and give it a thumbs up. Rate the received review. The more people do this, the more important the review becomes for Google.
 

Bad reviews - Justified bad reviews

Have you received a bad review? Now you must decide whether it is justified or not. If you received a bad review, and it is justified, you can try to accommodate the customer. Respond kindly and offer the customer a voucher (compensation) if you wish. It is not mandatory, but it shows the customer (and potential customers) that you do not want to lose them and that fair treatment is important to you.
 

Bad reviews - Unjustified or unfair bad review

If the bad review is unjustified, do not respond immediately. Never respond to the review angrily, as doing so can make it even more challenging to remove the review.

A review that has already been answered is usually very difficult to remove.
 

Fake reviews - Bad reviews from people who don't know your business

Among the unjustified reviews, there are often fake reviews. Such reviews often come from strangers who have never been in contact with the company or who only give negative or few reviews.

Here's how you can remove fake reviews in Google My Business:

• Have as many of your customers as possible report the reviews as fake.
• Ensure positive reviews of the existing reviews (upvoting).
• Encourage (preferably) new good reviews to be written.
• Ideally with an image.

Another option is to contact the review platforms and request the removal of the respective review. Unfortunately, this often has little success.
 

Targeted attack with bad reviews - Consult a lawyer

If you realize it is an attack of bad reviews, it is essential to remain calm and do nothing, even though you are upset and would like to respond angrily. Responding to a bad review can only add more fuel to the fire. Flag the bad review and report it by categorizing the reviews.

Ask customers to review you positively on Google and other platforms. The more positive reviews you get on Google, the higher the trustworthiness is for potential new customers.

In doubt, bad reviews can also be removed by lawyers through cease and desist declarations.

The lawyer removes the reviews if they are unjustified and cannot be removed through Google and other review platforms. The lawyer sends the author of the review a request to delete the post and demands a cease and desist declaration. The costs per removal are between €150 and €250.
 

Removing bad reviews from your business profile

Request the removal of reviews negatively impacting your business - here's how!

Google can remove reviews from your business profile if they are inappropriate. You can request removal through this form.

When requesting the removal of bad reviews, you will be guided through the form with the following steps.

First, confirm your email, which is your Google account managing the business profile. Then click Confirm to proceed with the next steps.

After confirming your email address, you can manage the reviews. Select the affected business for this process.

Before you can view the reviews, check the box for "Report a new review for removal."

In this step, you can review the ratings and submit them to Google by clicking on "Report."

To report the review, you can choose from the following categories. Once you've selected the appropriate category, you can report the review. 

Remove a review from Google due to legal violations

If reviews on your business profile violate applicable laws, you can request their removal from Google through this form.