How to Spot and Remove Fake Google Reviews

Google reviews are the modern way of making or breaking small businesses because you cannot be sure what clients think of your products. The best thing about these reviews is that you can know if the review is fake or genuine. The big question is how to tell whether you have ethical, helpful and effective reviews. In this article, you will learn how to spot and remove fake Google reviews.

Tips to keep your Google reviews legal

• Having fake Google reviews about your business or products can impact your search engine optimization negatively. That means less traffic on your site and fewer customers means low sales, which results in losses in the long run.
• Check the Google reviews constantly to avoid missing out on important information. You should keep track of customer reviews about your products to get their feedback and know what they say about your service.
• As much as Google investigates the reported reviews, you may need to engage the reviewer.
• WebSuited’s local SEO services are a great way to ensure that your SEO campaign boosts your business growth.

 Here’s why Faking Google reviews is considered a federal crime

You can easily get in trouble for leaving fake reviews, and you can be charged in the federal trade commission (FTC). The FTC considered this a false or deceptive way of advertising your business, and it’s illegal. It’s viewed as a crime because the review isn’t usually based on the genuine customer experience.

It’s a way of misleading customers or potential prospects by luring them to spend on a product. It’s illegal because customers will buy after reading the fake online review, and maybe they wouldn’t have needed the product in the first place. Fake reviews are unlawful, and that’s why Google removes all the fake reviews.

False reviews are mostly from people who try to boost their businesses quickly with false-positive remarks. Mostly it’s from actual people who leave negative thoughts, and they may not be related to the product being sold.

There are many reasons why people leave negative reviews. These reasons include;

• Revenge
• Blackmail
• Punishment or public protest
• Competitors sabotage

Some Google reviews policies strictly state that business owners shouldn’t accept or allow money for online testimonials or feedback.

Monitoring online reviews is a bit hectic, especially for large businesses, but you can use several strategies to ensure honest reviews. You should always meet customers’ specifications and provide them with the best services or products. Customer satisfaction is the main strategy because that’s how customers trust you, and they will leave you a positive review or feedback.

Here’s How Negative Google Reviews Can Impact Your SEO Negatively

As a business owner, to get a high ranking on search engines, SEO is vital. That’s where Google reviews fall, and businesses should always aim to have many authentic and positive reviews. Having few negative but honest reviews cannot jeopardize your reputation as a business owner. You should let customers state the real facts and give you honest feedback.

Fake negative reviews can affect your SEO and reduce your ranking. This leads to less traffic and fewer customers, which means you will experience losses in the long run. You should always aim to have a positive SEO to have a higher ranking and remain successful.

Business owners should stay vigilant about their reviews because authentic reviews are always the best, even if they are negative. With a negative but honest review, you can always fix the issue with customers, and this will help you serve prospects even better.

Google reviews should be honest, and that’s why WebSuited spots and removes these reviews.

How to Spot the Fake Google Reviews

• Time of posting

As a business owner, you should be keen when checking the time a review has been posted. This is essential because you can easily detect if the review is authentic or not. If the review was stationed close to a public protest, you could easily tell that it isn’t genuine if it’s public punishment if a business for doing something previously, it can be a fake review. If there is some disagreement or misunderstanding, then the reviews can be fake.

• Type of language

You can spot false reviews from authentic reviews by paying attention to the language used. If the reviewer uses a vocabulary that’s not natural or sounds robotic, you should suspect this review. If the reviewer uses vulgar language, the review may not be authentic. If the grammar is broken or hard to understand, then the review may not be accurate. That’s a great strategy for spotting fake reviews from honest thoughts.

• Strange patterns

You need some expertise before using this strategy to spot honest Google reviews from fake reviews. This is a complicated strategy, but it’s efficient in the detection of fake reviews. If a user leaves five-star reviews for a business and does the same for the competitor, this is a spam review. That’s how you can detect reviews that sabotage business competitors.

• Frequency

You can check the authenticity of Google reviews using this strategy. The Frequency of posting reviews can help you detect if it’s a fake or authentic review. If the reviews are being broadcast within a short time, it can indicate punishment or public protest. This happens mostly between competitor businesses to attain a competitive advantage. Negative reviews will bring down your success score, and this can lure them to your competitors business. That’s how you lose clients, and that’s why your competitors can use fake reviews to gain a competitive advantage.

• Anonymous profiles

You may detect a fake review if it’s from an anonymous source. You can easily see such anonymous reviews by checking the profile of the reviewers. If they have unfinished profiles or have filled their profiles with fake information, you can confirm that it’s a fake review.

If they have a history of leaving bad reviews to all clients, it can be a fake account, most probably.

• Reviews with no purchase history

If the reviewer has no purchase history in the database of purchases, they can be fake reviewers. The reviewer should have used a product or have an experience with the product to leave reviews. If they haven’t purchased the product, then the customer may be giving false information.

• False information

This is the easiest way to find out if you have false reviews. Reviews with incorrect information have false facts, and they don’t have correct details either way. These are ways of Competitors harming your business by ruining your business reputation.

Removing False Google Reviews

Google removes reviews that violate their guidelines. These are the steps to eliminating or disputing fake Google reviews;

• Flag the review as inappropriate

As soon as you find a review inappropriate, you should flag it as offensive. If a review has offensive language, you should flag it to google so that they can investigate and remove the review. With a Google business account, you can log in and flag the review.

• Report policy violations

After you flag the review as inappropriate, there is a page for filing policy violations. Here you can report the violation by providing an email address specifying why you flagged the review as inappropriate. Within a short time, the issue will be solved.

• Contact business support on Google

If you don’t succeed after the first two steps, you can seek more help from Google business support. You need to have an email address, and the support team will solve your issue within no time. You should attach screenshots explaining the problem you are encountering.

• Respond to the Google review

If you don’t succeed after all these steps and the review is still on your site, you can respond to the study showing that you are looking for a solution to the issue.

Conclusion

Business owners can overcome the challenge of false Google reviews if they believe in their products or services in Providence. All you should do is give your customers the best experience at your online business. That’s how they will leave honest reviews, and you can improve on your weak areas.

Positive reviews attract more clients, and this means higher profits but negative reviews can also be valuable. With an honest negative review, you will know the areas that need improvement. At WebSuited, you can boost your business through great SEO services at an affordable price.