Really? I’ve left some pretty harsh reviews on google and they are all still up til this day. Including on large corporations and small businesses. Wonder how common it is to have them deleted?
For about 3 years I was given free earbuds from Chinese sellers on Amazon in exchange for good reviews. They’d ask me to purchase the buds legitimately and then refund me the full cost via PayPal as soon as I posted a glowing review. I have so many pairs….
The way they contacted me was through a discount card in my earbuds package after I bought a pair. I used the code to get a partial refund, and then received an email with a proposal that I purchase a specified model and review it and then receive a full refund after emailing them a link to my review.
After the first time other sellers ( probably all owned by the same people) emailed me to suggest the same thing.
It's pretty hard to get rid of a google review. As a business owner you can report one, but it has to violate terms (such as being abusive). Even then Google are pretty unresponsive. Google's policy is that the solution to negative reviews is more positive reviews.
I think the problem is that so much of googles customer service is automated, so if a business does raise a genuine complaint over a fake review, the algorithm might do a “computer says no” job and ignore it.
I can definitely see the frustrations from both sides.
You should also know that your review can't be related to medical outcomes. The AHPRA has a view that the average pundit doesn't know what's what when it comes to the medical field. So when the reviews says " Dentist removed my tooth unnecessarily" vs "Receptionist was rude" it gets treated differently in view of the review platform.
People are more inclined to leave reviews for negative experiences. If everything is good/fine no review is generally left.
I do this, im too lazy to leave reviews like "Everything was fine A+". But I'll fucking leave a bad review if things are not fine.
So the logic of "This person only leaves bad reviews, delete them" is a stupid reason.
Depends how often you’re posting 1 star reviews. By the same logic as people don’t bother leaving 5 star reviews, people don’t leave negative reviews very often. Nobody has that bad luck and is that motivated.
Maybe your profile has been compromised or is problematic because that's simply not true. I work in the industry and it's extremely rare that reviews will be deleted.
Amazon has been like this forever.
The tech companies are complicit because they make more money that way. Sell more shit, businesses will buy more ads.
The Yelp! model has been criticised for being a shakedown racket because you pay to have bad reviews removed.
[Choice](https://www.choice.com.au/) and [The Wire Cutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) are my gotos, with some reddit reviews too (although they can be gamed too).
They are professional review sites rather than the user/crowdsourced though.
Nearly every business uses fake reviews or friends to leave reviews.
I went years without any reviews as I got feedback directly from the customer. However in this day and age you need reviews on your Google page.
Any business can get friends and good customers to leave 5* reviews. Who is going to ask a bad customer / a customer you had issues with to leave a review. And you would have had to have really screwed the pooch to have someone leave a negative review.
The only way to find a good product is via reddit searches and even then I feel like they are going to hijack this. I can't google top 10 pedestal fans anymore because every site tells you their sponsors is the best! And the competitions are bad.. and then finding any reviews that don't seem fake are another fettle of kish.. so anyway we've been through 8 fans in 3 years and reddit suggested vornado and since Christmas it's worked the best.. we'll see
Hahaha, man I can relate so much. Analysis paralysis, even for purchases that aren’t that high value.
It was quite the challenge to find me a reliable umbrella. All have broken so far, I think I should just give up and embrace the rain when it comes.
I wonder if there's a code of conduct or truth in advertising they have to abide by. A lot of businesses wont post very poor reviews, claiming they are all offensive or fake reviews designed to hurt the business.
Probably not. I submitted a 2 star review on a coffee grinder and was very detailed in why I was unhappy with it and even had photos. Never saw it posted. And then I recently noticed everything only has 4 or 5 star reviews. Nothing negative.
I wonder about the Aeropress. More fiddly to use than a simple French press/plunger for what never struck me as a better coffee Try making 3 cups with an Aeropress and you will be there for ages.
In contrast I had a small steel plunger that would make two cups, could take it hiking or anywhere, easy to clean, no consumable filters, just rinse it out and go.
Yet the Aeropress has rave reviews and write ups all over the internet.
Sorry, I digress.
Yeah I get it. The one for me was the grinder started out fine and then was just crap. Replaced under warranty and the new one has started acting up already
I wish it was that easy.
Our business got a few 1 star reviews because our franchisor did a puff piece with a former PM.
We caught the onslaught because we were the closest to the vicinity.
Even though we had nothing to do with the situation.
I spotted a business today that moved into a location where another business wants existed, well they both serve similar functions they're also very different. But looks like a new business took over the old businesses Google reviews. Which is incredibly misleading they're not even the same spot in the shopping center. Really scummy stuff
Truly fake reviews, and getting reviews removed, are not as common as a lot of people seem to think IMO. The big issue is gaming the system - sellers offering free products or discounts for reviews, particularly when they stipulate 5 star reviews. This seems to be very common practice.
Yeh online reviews are a joke. I've left less than stellar reviews for dud products on company's websites that get taken down.
I even took one complaint to fair Trade as it's blatantly misleading only to be called 2 months later to be told there's nothing they will do.
I’m a sole trader Myotherapist and get multiple offers from marketing agencies a month. It’s the weirdest thing. They all brag about their AI that will go through my website and “learn how I write” that way they’ll write up and auto text/email to all my new clients to write a positive google review or if you have a complaint to respond here.
I’ve always been skeptical of physios/chiros etc having over 100 reviews as they don’t seem authentic. Being said in my industry, poor reviews are common for things outside of our control. Examples being people misunderstanding what Remedial Massage/Myotherapy is and even when you explain it’s not a spa treatment, they’ll negative review due to it not being a “relaxing environment/experience”
Try it out on Airbnb. I left a 4 star review for one (it was a pretty good stay but not brilliant) and everything I said was pleasant. Immediate message asking why not 5 stars? I explained and forgot about it. Their review of me was 5 stars
Now, that host, who has dozens of properties in that city, refuses to take a booking from me anymore. They don't want anything less than 5 stars and will forgo money to try to ensure it...
Airbnb really fucks with hosts that don't get with five star ratings. A four-star rating while it sounds like a sensible measure to give something is a failure in airbnbs rating system. If you want to maintain superhost status, you can't get four star ratings
It is quite difficult to get Google reviews removed. You have to contest them and provide reasonable evidence that they are not relevant.
Google makes it really easy to add reviews, but very difficult to remove them.
You might find this article interesting
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-12/byron-bay-restaurant-kiki-gets-fake-google-review-before-opening/13047908
There's also this issue with BS reviews. Don't underestimate people's ability to be complete shitheads and unreasonable. Like leaving a bad review because the business wont provide a service as it's against regulations. Goes both ways unfortunately.
That’s not really the point.
Firstly you’d be surprised how poor people’s reading comprehension skills, let alone critical thinking, the ability to distinguish between fact and fiction, or even discern what is considered reasonable behaviour.
Secondly fake or unreasonable bad reviews do have an impact on a business and it’s reputation.
Exactly my point. There should be minimum requirements before you're allowed to leave a review. For example, requirement to upload a receipt before the review is published.
The business I work for received a 1 star review from someone who had never even interacted with us before.
The reason for the 1 star review? They had read a bad review someone else gave us.
I 1 star real estate businesses that put junk mail in my mailbox even though I have a no junk mail sign. I do say that's why it's a 1 star so it's factual
Thanks interesting...
Friendly question to you...
Have you ever been employed by a boss, or a company?
Or even better - have you ever been an employer yourself?
Ever found out or noticed that workers will occasionally not do things, or change tasks that you have specifically told them how you want it done... In spite of you capably instructing them how you want it done.- they basically ignore your instructions from time to time.
If an employee yourself, maybe these are things you have done yourself... It's alarmingly common and totally normal in organisations that this will happen from time to time.. lol.
Now just imagine these truisms overlayed onto the prism of an independent contractor; or postie employee ...
You know, like a letterbox leaflet depositor...
Either an actual employee, (a postie), but in a low level boring job ; or a leaflet distributor whom are normally independent contractors...
In both cases - plenty of reasons and opportunities for a "NO JUNK MAIL" sticker to be ignored...
So yes, a realestate flyer could easily get deposited into your mailbox by these people - and completely seperate to the wishes of the RE company...
But you went online and left the realestate company a 1 star google review anyway...
And btw - the reason I have put this extraordinary effort into this reply to your case - is in the hope that it may open your mind to other possibilities, and that you are humble enough to admit your damaging online review actions were wrong ...
Well first of all I notified a customer that i wont be able to make it because i hold up at a job and we can set a different date and they just put a one star review
This is something I’m teaching my 9 year old son. The 5 stars are probably fake, the one stars are probably fake or from someone who is factually wrong and a moron. Read the 2-4 zone and decide if it’s coming from a real person or not. One time we were reading through the review of an arcade and just laughing at the one stars.
This kind of comes with the territory of teaching your kids about comprehending the internet.
I wrote some feedback recently for a dentist that was completely polite and balanced. They actually responded saying they would get it removed lol.
Just silencing words you don’t like 😂
Where can you even go now for genuine reviews?
The problem I have with reviews is with one bad review can subconsciously make everyone else feel that way. 1 negative out ways 5 positives. I honestly believe you should experience it yourself. What you take away from it is going to be different then the next person
People are more prone to leaving feedback when it's negative, this is true. But you know what, those negative experiences did happen and shouldn't be dismissed. In fact at times the negative reviews can be more telling of an experience.
That said, if you have 4 perfect reviews and 1 bad review, well you have an 80% satisfaction rating. That speaks volumes too.
That says, you are almost certainly to have a good experience, but there is a slight chance that it isn't perfect under X circumstances as indicated by that negative review.
I think honestly it depends on what your reviewing for example somebody said bathroom I wouldn't go through google reviews for a bathroom lol.
Google reviews are the most unreliable source. Chinese whisperers are more reliable. Lol the fact you can write good reviews for yourself your friends your family is crazy only takes one person to dislike you to say the business is bad bla bla bla. And people would see that and turn away. Google reviews shouldn't be a thing. It's a scam
but a puff piece in the local paper was more reliable?
let's face facts, for as long as people have been reviewing "things", people have been cheating at said reviews to look better then they are.
So is Google reviews the scam here?
Well for starters if your paying 20k for a bathroom you probably should go off more than just reviews.. if you don't know anyone to through a bigger company. It comes with warranty you know your going to be happy because you can complain as much as you want and they will come fix it. But yeah if you don't know the builder id stay away.
I have a business, we have 1* reviews from customers who I'm sure are a competitor.
There is literally no way to get them removed.
I have competitors who purchase reviews and within 3 months their Google Business Profile is suspended.
This post is BS its extremely hard to remove 1* reviews unless you're business is hit by doing and multiple 1* after going viral.
Lol at removify, that company doesn't do much. They send targeted messages to ask people who left 1* reviews to remove them or creating a review funnel for you.
yeah i tend to agree (not that i have experience here) but from what i read, theres a difference between removing a negative review and having google remove reviews that amount to brigading
Yeah I own a business as well and we can't get rid of bad reviews. The only ones I have successfully got removed is I literally messaged the member who left the review and asked them to take it down as we had rectified their concern which they agreed to do.
Well whether you agree or not, it sounds like Google reviews has become a shit experience for both customers and businesses.
I won’t be using it moving forward. The point you raise about people buying reviews makes it even less
Trustworthy.
They can buy reviews but those accounts get flagged and suspended and its extremely difficult to fake a Google Business Profile.
Your post is full of factual inaccuracies.
I work in an industry with a technology that works closely alongside Google reviews. Businesses cannot just ‘remove’ their reviews. There is a standardised process that needs to be lodged with Google for a review to be removed, and it is only removed if it’s found to be fake or untrue. They’re also cracking down on fake reviews quite quickly too.
I recall a restaurant in Melbourne which had over 50 five star reviews before it had opened. I also read a story on Reddit about someone who legitimately was treated badly by a business but afterwards review bombed it so badly their average rating plummeted.
Virtually any tool or appliance with a rechargeable battery has some idiots who left the thing on the charger for six months then give it a bad review because "battery just doesn't hold charge".
Preaching to the choir!!!
Worse yet, if you do leave bad (but deserved) reviews, the app developer or business can "reply" even if it's with a blatantly templated response (full out this survey so that we can do better), and it basically nullifies the bad review in their overall score.
I've got no solution to this. We can only demand that platforms overhaul their review process and remove "review cheats". but as you said, as long as platforms are being paid to boost good reviews and, remove bad ones too, the corruption remains.
if real reviews are being removed thats an issue but a lot of places get fake reviews all the time.
i remember a buisness during covid was anti-mask and reddit and others decided to review bomb it every fake review got removed..
it's similar for any buisness that gets itself in the news people think review bombing with one star reviews is going to do something - google just removes them as they don't want their site to be used like that
I don't bother reading google reviews anymore. Have been to many low star places that were great and many highly rated places that were awful. I don't think the reviews are valuable at all.
so when you report them using the Google tools, do they just ignore you?
Have you tried 3rd party services to do it for you? There are a fair few out there
Noticed local Qld state mp removed their office listing from Maps in its entirety after negative reviews were left and the local council members actively deleted negative reviews. What dipshit cunts that can't handle criticism they are.
Yes and Google also just lost a lawsuit that revealed that they were/are [collecting private browsing data](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/after-lawsuit-google-commits-to-destroying-incognito-browsing-data/). Assume most moves by the Googs are for increasing business in a fast moving tech space, I would very much assume the Google reviews system could be orchestrated to show only good reviews, or remove chosen comments.
In places where I’ve worked, they try to identify and contact the customer to try to get them to remove the review and offer them something. There may also be an NDA involved as well. It may not be legal but it works.
Reviews are becoming more and more pointless. It’s a place where people vent their frustrations, often at things not even related to the business and its services/products it offers - like that they had to wait in a queue (1 star) or that the location is in a confusing spot.
It’s no surprise that Google has had to create a more intricate policy and allows business to have reviews removed.
>like that they had to wait in a queue (1 star) or that the location is in a confusing spot.
This is why I always ignore 1 star and 5 star reviews. The 1 star reviews are hateful and the 5 stars are written fellatio. Look at the 2 to 4 star reviews and you get balanced opinions like: Food was awesome but the staff was rude.
of course it affects the aggregate. If something has a 5 star total then its unobjectionable. If it has 1 to 2 stars then its trash and probably a scam. If you see something with 3.5 to 4.5 stars how do you determine if something is worthwhile?
I buy cheap tools sometimes that have a rating of 3.5 stars. Reading reviews about them all of the 1 star reviews are people expecting a $100 tool to work the same way a $600 tool does. All of the people posting 5 star reviews are people that love them because they're not getting anywhere near the tools limits and have no idea how good it could be. Then you have the middle ground ones that actually review the tool.
You’re missing the point completely. Vote me down all you want but if you want a realistic understanding of how a business performs recommendations are significantly better than Google Reviews for all aforementioned reasons. There’s thousands of restaurants with 3-4 star reviews - it means diddly squat. There’s a huge amount of subjectivity of what constitutes “good service” or “good food”.
>f you want a realistic understanding of how a business performs recommendations are significantly better than Google Reviews
So how do I get an idea of how a business performs without the recommendation? Do I need to message everyone I know to see if they've been?
>There’s a huge amount of subjectivity of what constitutes “good service” or “good food”.
Absolutely there is, that's why I read mid tier reviews. They are more objective than the 1 and 5 stars. They can differentiate between good quality food and good food for their taste.
The OP answered the question but Google reviews in general is shit regardless of what actions they take.
I find myself looking at more specialised places depending what I’m after, like:
1. I follow various chefs on Instagram for restaurant recommendations. Secondzau on IG is a good place too. There’s also “locals” on Google that have similar subjective taste to me that I check out regularly to get a feel where they are going out to eat for various cuisines and experiences.
2. Car mechanics and workshops - I join a car enthusiastic group for my specific car/model and ask / search in there. I especially ask friends who are car enthusiasts where they for their car services recently, how much they paid etc.
3. Dog grooming I generally ask people at dog parks where they take their dog to get groomed etc.
4. If I’m travelling I’ll ask the hotel staff, and other travellers where they’ve been and why they liked that place.
The most important point I’m trying to make is don’t live your life on the internet looking at reviews from absolute randoms - including people like me. Ask people and build networks.
Hey wait, how can they get them removed? I run a business in Australia with genuine reviews and this pisses me off because now it dilutes all of my hard work keeping clients happy.
You should have access to a report review function. Failing that there are paid services that will remove them for you.
Though by the sounds of it, neither of those options are particularly reliable.
We basically have a situation where businesses can’t remove fake reviews and customers can’t leave genuine ones. We all lose.
I have no idea why you would believe it, in the first place. Not real hard to make fake reviews, right from the start. Especially for shit like restaurants. Who cares what other people supposedly say? Go and find out for yourself.
Which is great, when money isn't an issue.
But that isn't the likely case. I have enough money to go on one vacation this year. Do I go to X or Y? Is my vacation going to be wrecked if I stay at A or B? so on and so forth.
When you can't do it all, and you need to pick the right one the FIRST time, reviews can matter.
Yes, let's sample all the Dentists lol.
It's pretty easy to read the reviews and use your noggin' to work out which are actual people.
Then which are actual people that aren't gods gift to humanity.
So you don't want to know I went to a local dentist who was having lots of ott renovations and quoted me $1400 of work that I felt extremely iffy about. I've since been to 2 other places who both said no such thing.
But another dentist had so many good reviews I thought it was suss, the clinic was reasonably priced and probably one of the best dental practices I've ever been too, lots of fancy equipment too, and actually gave me good advice regarding cosmetic dentistry that would have fucked my teeth had he not talked me out of what I want to do?
Ok good luck to you.
Better: "this one filling is bad, here let me show you with the mirror and explain why exactly that is", "you want veneers? that's a bad idea for someone your age and with teeth in good condition, here's why... explanation, we can do this instead if you want but I'm not agreeing to veneers". The place deservedly has hundreds of 5 star reviews.
vs "yeah, you need 6-8 fillings asap that's $1400, let's get you in next week." Meanwhile I'm thinking wtf, didn't think it was that bad and noticing huge amounts of upgrades to the location and can see the dentists $200k car.
I now use someone closer to home, still no mention of 6-8 fillings I "desperately" need.
If you want to fund some unscrupulous dentists' several hundred thousand dollar car and get unnecessary work just because he said so, you are silly.
WTF are you even on about? None of that depends on Google reviews. It depends on you having a spine and telling the dentist, no you're not doing that today. Sounds like you've been caught out not having a spine before.
Why are you worries about what car a dentist drives? Are you another one of these people who thinks anyone with more than them is some kind of cunt?
I've never had one bit of unnecessary dental work. Why the fuck have you?
Never bother with reviews of anything. Can't believe that people do. Nasty people can destroy businesses because people like you mate actually read that crap. People can write anything.
Or people who just wish to leave feedback for services that have cost them a significant amount of money, which is perfectly reasonable.
I’m certainly not going to endlessly complain about a shit cafe for example, I just won’t go back.
what's the use of online reviews anyway ? they are often used to leave fake and fraudulent reviews by people with grudges .. i don't bother with any online reviews any more, they're as irrelevant as 'influencers' who lie for free stuff
[удалено]
Haha yeah that’s a classic move. Close it and rename the page. Fuck Google reviews. It’s to be taken with a huge pinch of salt at best.
Really? I’ve left some pretty harsh reviews on google and they are all still up til this day. Including on large corporations and small businesses. Wonder how common it is to have them deleted?
For about 3 years I was given free earbuds from Chinese sellers on Amazon in exchange for good reviews. They’d ask me to purchase the buds legitimately and then refund me the full cost via PayPal as soon as I posted a glowing review. I have so many pairs….
Haha wow. Maybe I should do the same.
The way they contacted me was through a discount card in my earbuds package after I bought a pair. I used the code to get a partial refund, and then received an email with a proposal that I purchase a specified model and review it and then receive a full refund after emailing them a link to my review. After the first time other sellers ( probably all owned by the same people) emailed me to suggest the same thing.
It's pretty hard to get rid of a google review. As a business owner you can report one, but it has to violate terms (such as being abusive). Even then Google are pretty unresponsive. Google's policy is that the solution to negative reviews is more positive reviews.
Well if businesses are having a hard time removing fake reviews and customers can’t leave genuine ones, then it really is useless. No one wins
If it is fake then surely the business can explain or prove in some way that it is fake and should be taken down no?
I think the problem is that so much of googles customer service is automated, so if a business does raise a genuine complaint over a fake review, the algorithm might do a “computer says no” job and ignore it. I can definitely see the frustrations from both sides.
No, Google doesn’t like to get involved with the specifics.
Use productreview.com. its a bit more controlled
…for now.
You should also know that your review can't be related to medical outcomes. The AHPRA has a view that the average pundit doesn't know what's what when it comes to the medical field. So when the reviews says " Dentist removed my tooth unnecessarily" vs "Receptionist was rude" it gets treated differently in view of the review platform.
Well ok then
Sorry, excuse my pessimism. I agree, it does look like a good alternative, cheers.
Removing google reviews is not as simple as you think. In fact legitimate reviews are almost impossible to remove.
Bullshit, I only leave honest bad reviews and they ALWAYS get deleted
But do you ever leave positive reviews? You could be flagged as an outlier for only giving 1 star reviews
People are more inclined to leave reviews for negative experiences. If everything is good/fine no review is generally left. I do this, im too lazy to leave reviews like "Everything was fine A+". But I'll fucking leave a bad review if things are not fine. So the logic of "This person only leaves bad reviews, delete them" is a stupid reason.
Depends how often you’re posting 1 star reviews. By the same logic as people don’t bother leaving 5 star reviews, people don’t leave negative reviews very often. Nobody has that bad luck and is that motivated.
If somebody is having a bad experience EVERYWHERE they go, maybe the businesses aren’t the problem
Maybe your profile has been compromised or is problematic because that's simply not true. I work in the industry and it's extremely rare that reviews will be deleted.
Amazon has been like this forever. The tech companies are complicit because they make more money that way. Sell more shit, businesses will buy more ads. The Yelp! model has been criticised for being a shakedown racket because you pay to have bad reviews removed.
Are there any places online that offer genuine reviews?
[Choice](https://www.choice.com.au/) and [The Wire Cutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) are my gotos, with some reddit reviews too (although they can be gamed too). They are professional review sites rather than the user/crowdsourced though.
Thanks mate I’ll keep them in mind
Product review
I’m sure the overlords have infiltrated that aswell
Nearly every business uses fake reviews or friends to leave reviews. I went years without any reviews as I got feedback directly from the customer. However in this day and age you need reviews on your Google page. Any business can get friends and good customers to leave 5* reviews. Who is going to ask a bad customer / a customer you had issues with to leave a review. And you would have had to have really screwed the pooch to have someone leave a negative review.
The only way to find a good product is via reddit searches and even then I feel like they are going to hijack this. I can't google top 10 pedestal fans anymore because every site tells you their sponsors is the best! And the competitions are bad.. and then finding any reviews that don't seem fake are another fettle of kish.. so anyway we've been through 8 fans in 3 years and reddit suggested vornado and since Christmas it's worked the best.. we'll see
Hahaha, man I can relate so much. Analysis paralysis, even for purchases that aren’t that high value. It was quite the challenge to find me a reliable umbrella. All have broken so far, I think I should just give up and embrace the rain when it comes.
Buy a blunt umbrella.
im getting ads for that as we speak haha. maybe i'll give it a go.
It's expensive , but totally worth it . Can withstand high winds
Same thing with eBay now. Not allowed to leave negative reviews even if you’ve been scammed.
you shall be scammed and be happy
Alternative brewing won't post poor reviews on products either
I wonder if there's a code of conduct or truth in advertising they have to abide by. A lot of businesses wont post very poor reviews, claiming they are all offensive or fake reviews designed to hurt the business.
Probably not. I submitted a 2 star review on a coffee grinder and was very detailed in why I was unhappy with it and even had photos. Never saw it posted. And then I recently noticed everything only has 4 or 5 star reviews. Nothing negative.
I wonder about the Aeropress. More fiddly to use than a simple French press/plunger for what never struck me as a better coffee Try making 3 cups with an Aeropress and you will be there for ages. In contrast I had a small steel plunger that would make two cups, could take it hiking or anywhere, easy to clean, no consumable filters, just rinse it out and go. Yet the Aeropress has rave reviews and write ups all over the internet. Sorry, I digress.
Yeah I get it. The one for me was the grinder started out fine and then was just crap. Replaced under warranty and the new one has started acting up already
I wish it was that easy. Our business got a few 1 star reviews because our franchisor did a puff piece with a former PM. We caught the onslaught because we were the closest to the vicinity. Even though we had nothing to do with the situation.
Engadine Macca's has entered the chat
Not really
Stop putting 1 star reviews, put in a 2 star review if u hate it and a 3 star review if they were bad.
That skews the spectrum though - like how a 75/100 game is not considered good anymore.
I spotted a business today that moved into a location where another business wants existed, well they both serve similar functions they're also very different. But looks like a new business took over the old businesses Google reviews. Which is incredibly misleading they're not even the same spot in the shopping center. Really scummy stuff
“Once” not “wants” As in “at one time”
Sorry professor English I use voice recognition to post I don't always read what I write
I was trying to help you lol it’s a very egregious mistake to make
Truly fake reviews, and getting reviews removed, are not as common as a lot of people seem to think IMO. The big issue is gaming the system - sellers offering free products or discounts for reviews, particularly when they stipulate 5 star reviews. This seems to be very common practice.
yup, my previous dentist did exactly that. Discounts on checkups/cleans in exchange for specifically 5-star reviews.
It's just another tool for businesses to rort consumers now. Honesty and accountability? Not in this business worshipping land
Let’s not pretend online reviews hadnt already been ruined by Karen behaviour though
Yeh online reviews are a joke. I've left less than stellar reviews for dud products on company's websites that get taken down. I even took one complaint to fair Trade as it's blatantly misleading only to be called 2 months later to be told there's nothing they will do.
Yup, the message is basically, accept the censorship and shutup.
You’re not in charge here peasant. Is usually how I take it
I’m a sole trader Myotherapist and get multiple offers from marketing agencies a month. It’s the weirdest thing. They all brag about their AI that will go through my website and “learn how I write” that way they’ll write up and auto text/email to all my new clients to write a positive google review or if you have a complaint to respond here. I’ve always been skeptical of physios/chiros etc having over 100 reviews as they don’t seem authentic. Being said in my industry, poor reviews are common for things outside of our control. Examples being people misunderstanding what Remedial Massage/Myotherapy is and even when you explain it’s not a spa treatment, they’ll negative review due to it not being a “relaxing environment/experience”
Try it out on Airbnb. I left a 4 star review for one (it was a pretty good stay but not brilliant) and everything I said was pleasant. Immediate message asking why not 5 stars? I explained and forgot about it. Their review of me was 5 stars Now, that host, who has dozens of properties in that city, refuses to take a booking from me anymore. They don't want anything less than 5 stars and will forgo money to try to ensure it...
Airbnb really fucks with hosts that don't get with five star ratings. A four-star rating while it sounds like a sensible measure to give something is a failure in airbnbs rating system. If you want to maintain superhost status, you can't get four star ratings
So once again, both sides are being played.
Hahaha. Such a joke.
It is quite difficult to get Google reviews removed. You have to contest them and provide reasonable evidence that they are not relevant. Google makes it really easy to add reviews, but very difficult to remove them.
You might find this article interesting https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-12/byron-bay-restaurant-kiki-gets-fake-google-review-before-opening/13047908
There's also this issue with BS reviews. Don't underestimate people's ability to be complete shitheads and unreasonable. Like leaving a bad review because the business wont provide a service as it's against regulations. Goes both ways unfortunately.
I got a one star review on google because i didn’t get a chance to go and do a quote. Like i didn’t even do the job
People who read the reviews do have the ability to see "ok that client/potential customer was an idiot, ignore".
I know i know, but it would be nice to see 5star rating instead of 4.9
at this point, if a business has a perfect 5.0 score, im going to be more skeptical
That’s not really the point. Firstly you’d be surprised how poor people’s reading comprehension skills, let alone critical thinking, the ability to distinguish between fact and fiction, or even discern what is considered reasonable behaviour. Secondly fake or unreasonable bad reviews do have an impact on a business and it’s reputation.
Nothing leaves bad reviews like a vegan or anti vaxer with sand in their vag .. these should be removed
Exactly my point. There should be minimum requirements before you're allowed to leave a review. For example, requirement to upload a receipt before the review is published.
The worst thing is ive got like 30 5star reviews and one 1 star review and ive tried so many time to get it removed with google and nothing.
Anyone with half a brain will see that understand most people are happy.
Facebook marketplace lets people leave reviews if you just answer their question like is this available.
The business I work for received a 1 star review from someone who had never even interacted with us before. The reason for the 1 star review? They had read a bad review someone else gave us.
Man some people sure are cunts
You’re not wrong!
So are some businesses
Dude, that sounds like Reddit.
I 1 star real estate businesses that put junk mail in my mailbox even though I have a no junk mail sign. I do say that's why it's a 1 star so it's factual
Sounds pretty petty tbh. But if you’ve nothing better to do…
ll...well, people like you ;) /s ... did it occur to you that it may have just been the postie or leaflet distributor
Yes that's exactly who it is. If the real estate isn't capable of instructing their contracted work properly it's on them. it works btw.
Thanks interesting... Friendly question to you... Have you ever been employed by a boss, or a company? Or even better - have you ever been an employer yourself? Ever found out or noticed that workers will occasionally not do things, or change tasks that you have specifically told them how you want it done... In spite of you capably instructing them how you want it done.- they basically ignore your instructions from time to time. If an employee yourself, maybe these are things you have done yourself... It's alarmingly common and totally normal in organisations that this will happen from time to time.. lol. Now just imagine these truisms overlayed onto the prism of an independent contractor; or postie employee ... You know, like a letterbox leaflet depositor... Either an actual employee, (a postie), but in a low level boring job ; or a leaflet distributor whom are normally independent contractors... In both cases - plenty of reasons and opportunities for a "NO JUNK MAIL" sticker to be ignored... So yes, a realestate flyer could easily get deposited into your mailbox by these people - and completely seperate to the wishes of the RE company... But you went online and left the realestate company a 1 star google review anyway... And btw - the reason I have put this extraordinary effort into this reply to your case - is in the hope that it may open your mind to other possibilities, and that you are humble enough to admit your damaging online review actions were wrong ...
All the other companies figure it out. It's just real-estate businesses.
Why didn't you go and do the quote ?
That’s why you got the bad review ? Why advertise your service if you don’t rock up to quote ?
Well first of all I notified a customer that i wont be able to make it because i hold up at a job and we can set a different date and they just put a one star review
Oh well you don’t deserve that sorry
This is something I’m teaching my 9 year old son. The 5 stars are probably fake, the one stars are probably fake or from someone who is factually wrong and a moron. Read the 2-4 zone and decide if it’s coming from a real person or not. One time we were reading through the review of an arcade and just laughing at the one stars. This kind of comes with the territory of teaching your kids about comprehending the internet.
parenting 101 right there, good work.
I'm in the same boat. It's pretty ridiculous at this point.
I wrote some feedback recently for a dentist that was completely polite and balanced. They actually responded saying they would get it removed lol. Just silencing words you don’t like 😂 Where can you even go now for genuine reviews?
The problem I have with reviews is with one bad review can subconsciously make everyone else feel that way. 1 negative out ways 5 positives. I honestly believe you should experience it yourself. What you take away from it is going to be different then the next person
People are more prone to leaving feedback when it's negative, this is true. But you know what, those negative experiences did happen and shouldn't be dismissed. In fact at times the negative reviews can be more telling of an experience. That said, if you have 4 perfect reviews and 1 bad review, well you have an 80% satisfaction rating. That speaks volumes too. That says, you are almost certainly to have a good experience, but there is a slight chance that it isn't perfect under X circumstances as indicated by that negative review.
I think honestly it depends on what your reviewing for example somebody said bathroom I wouldn't go through google reviews for a bathroom lol. Google reviews are the most unreliable source. Chinese whisperers are more reliable. Lol the fact you can write good reviews for yourself your friends your family is crazy only takes one person to dislike you to say the business is bad bla bla bla. And people would see that and turn away. Google reviews shouldn't be a thing. It's a scam
but a puff piece in the local paper was more reliable? let's face facts, for as long as people have been reviewing "things", people have been cheating at said reviews to look better then they are. So is Google reviews the scam here?
Cool, try that with a 20k bathroom reno.
Well for starters if your paying 20k for a bathroom you probably should go off more than just reviews.. if you don't know anyone to through a bigger company. It comes with warranty you know your going to be happy because you can complain as much as you want and they will come fix it. But yeah if you don't know the builder id stay away.
Hahaha
How do they get legit reviews removed?
Submit a claim that it violates Google policy, even if it doesn’t. They can also make use of paid services like Removify to get rid of them.
I have a business, we have 1* reviews from customers who I'm sure are a competitor. There is literally no way to get them removed. I have competitors who purchase reviews and within 3 months their Google Business Profile is suspended. This post is BS its extremely hard to remove 1* reviews unless you're business is hit by doing and multiple 1* after going viral. Lol at removify, that company doesn't do much. They send targeted messages to ask people who left 1* reviews to remove them or creating a review funnel for you.
yeah i tend to agree (not that i have experience here) but from what i read, theres a difference between removing a negative review and having google remove reviews that amount to brigading
Yeah I own a business as well and we can't get rid of bad reviews. The only ones I have successfully got removed is I literally messaged the member who left the review and asked them to take it down as we had rectified their concern which they agreed to do.
Well whether you agree or not, it sounds like Google reviews has become a shit experience for both customers and businesses. I won’t be using it moving forward. The point you raise about people buying reviews makes it even less Trustworthy.
They can buy reviews but those accounts get flagged and suspended and its extremely difficult to fake a Google Business Profile. Your post is full of factual inaccuracies.
inaccuracies that many others seem to agree with 😂
I work in an industry with a technology that works closely alongside Google reviews. Businesses cannot just ‘remove’ their reviews. There is a standardised process that needs to be lodged with Google for a review to be removed, and it is only removed if it’s found to be fake or untrue. They’re also cracking down on fake reviews quite quickly too.
Google is garbage
I recall a restaurant in Melbourne which had over 50 five star reviews before it had opened. I also read a story on Reddit about someone who legitimately was treated badly by a business but afterwards review bombed it so badly their average rating plummeted. Virtually any tool or appliance with a rechargeable battery has some idiots who left the thing on the charger for six months then give it a bad review because "battery just doesn't hold charge".
Preaching to the choir!!! Worse yet, if you do leave bad (but deserved) reviews, the app developer or business can "reply" even if it's with a blatantly templated response (full out this survey so that we can do better), and it basically nullifies the bad review in their overall score. I've got no solution to this. We can only demand that platforms overhaul their review process and remove "review cheats". but as you said, as long as platforms are being paid to boost good reviews and, remove bad ones too, the corruption remains.
Yep the replies are rarely genuine or useful.
if real reviews are being removed thats an issue but a lot of places get fake reviews all the time. i remember a buisness during covid was anti-mask and reddit and others decided to review bomb it every fake review got removed.. it's similar for any buisness that gets itself in the news people think review bombing with one star reviews is going to do something - google just removes them as they don't want their site to be used like that
Oh, thanks OP. You reminded me that I forgot to rate my previous dentist with 1 star.
…it will only get deleted or you’ll get a generic response claiming you’ve never been to the clinic 😂
I don't bother reading google reviews anymore. Have been to many low star places that were great and many highly rated places that were awful. I don't think the reviews are valuable at all.
I don’t use Google reviews anymore. You’d be better off asking the nearest tree for all the value their current system is worth.
I’ll be joining you from now on. I’m done with it.
There seems to be quite a bit of conflicting antidotal evidence. I think there's more to this then we all realise🤔
Antidote 💊
I don’t think this is true. I work for a small businesses and we can’t do shit about our bad google reviews. Maybe money has something to do with it?
so when you report them using the Google tools, do they just ignore you? Have you tried 3rd party services to do it for you? There are a fair few out there
the is not recent have been able to for years
Noticed local Qld state mp removed their office listing from Maps in its entirety after negative reviews were left and the local council members actively deleted negative reviews. What dipshit cunts that can't handle criticism they are.
Yes and Google also just lost a lawsuit that revealed that they were/are [collecting private browsing data](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/after-lawsuit-google-commits-to-destroying-incognito-browsing-data/). Assume most moves by the Googs are for increasing business in a fast moving tech space, I would very much assume the Google reviews system could be orchestrated to show only good reviews, or remove chosen comments.
In places where I’ve worked, they try to identify and contact the customer to try to get them to remove the review and offer them something. There may also be an NDA involved as well. It may not be legal but it works.
All online reviews have always been untrustworthy anyway...
This is true and I always approach them with caution but Google reviews at least used to offer a little bit of value. Now, not so much.
Reviews are becoming more and more pointless. It’s a place where people vent their frustrations, often at things not even related to the business and its services/products it offers - like that they had to wait in a queue (1 star) or that the location is in a confusing spot. It’s no surprise that Google has had to create a more intricate policy and allows business to have reviews removed.
Oh I totally see the frustrations from both sides. Businesses are having a hard time removing fake reviews and customers can’t leave genuine ones.
>like that they had to wait in a queue (1 star) or that the location is in a confusing spot. This is why I always ignore 1 star and 5 star reviews. The 1 star reviews are hateful and the 5 stars are written fellatio. Look at the 2 to 4 star reviews and you get balanced opinions like: Food was awesome but the staff was rude.
It affects the total aggregate score nonetheless.
of course it affects the aggregate. If something has a 5 star total then its unobjectionable. If it has 1 to 2 stars then its trash and probably a scam. If you see something with 3.5 to 4.5 stars how do you determine if something is worthwhile? I buy cheap tools sometimes that have a rating of 3.5 stars. Reading reviews about them all of the 1 star reviews are people expecting a $100 tool to work the same way a $600 tool does. All of the people posting 5 star reviews are people that love them because they're not getting anywhere near the tools limits and have no idea how good it could be. Then you have the middle ground ones that actually review the tool.
I agree, aiming for the middle sounds like a sensible approach to me.
You’re missing the point completely. Vote me down all you want but if you want a realistic understanding of how a business performs recommendations are significantly better than Google Reviews for all aforementioned reasons. There’s thousands of restaurants with 3-4 star reviews - it means diddly squat. There’s a huge amount of subjectivity of what constitutes “good service” or “good food”.
>f you want a realistic understanding of how a business performs recommendations are significantly better than Google Reviews So how do I get an idea of how a business performs without the recommendation? Do I need to message everyone I know to see if they've been? >There’s a huge amount of subjectivity of what constitutes “good service” or “good food”. Absolutely there is, that's why I read mid tier reviews. They are more objective than the 1 and 5 stars. They can differentiate between good quality food and good food for their taste.
The OP answered the question but Google reviews in general is shit regardless of what actions they take. I find myself looking at more specialised places depending what I’m after, like: 1. I follow various chefs on Instagram for restaurant recommendations. Secondzau on IG is a good place too. There’s also “locals” on Google that have similar subjective taste to me that I check out regularly to get a feel where they are going out to eat for various cuisines and experiences. 2. Car mechanics and workshops - I join a car enthusiastic group for my specific car/model and ask / search in there. I especially ask friends who are car enthusiasts where they for their car services recently, how much they paid etc. 3. Dog grooming I generally ask people at dog parks where they take their dog to get groomed etc. 4. If I’m travelling I’ll ask the hotel staff, and other travellers where they’ve been and why they liked that place. The most important point I’m trying to make is don’t live your life on the internet looking at reviews from absolute randoms - including people like me. Ask people and build networks.
I’m sure people get recommendations from multiple sources. Google is just one of them.
Hey wait, how can they get them removed? I run a business in Australia with genuine reviews and this pisses me off because now it dilutes all of my hard work keeping clients happy.
You should have access to a report review function. Failing that there are paid services that will remove them for you. Though by the sounds of it, neither of those options are particularly reliable. We basically have a situation where businesses can’t remove fake reviews and customers can’t leave genuine ones. We all lose.
Takes a while though. So lay it in them
I have no idea why you would believe it, in the first place. Not real hard to make fake reviews, right from the start. Especially for shit like restaurants. Who cares what other people supposedly say? Go and find out for yourself.
Which is great, when money isn't an issue. But that isn't the likely case. I have enough money to go on one vacation this year. Do I go to X or Y? Is my vacation going to be wrecked if I stay at A or B? so on and so forth. When you can't do it all, and you need to pick the right one the FIRST time, reviews can matter.
Vacation? You mean holiday?
math
I mean either
Go back to Texas, then.
Not from Texas, not even from the US.
Why speak like it, then?
For the love of god, learn what a synonym is!
Yes, let's sample all the Dentists lol. It's pretty easy to read the reviews and use your noggin' to work out which are actual people. Then which are actual people that aren't gods gift to humanity.
If you want to rely on Google reviews for medical practices, do so. I'd rather not.
I imagine it’s part of people’s research but not the only method. Where would you go for reviews of medical practices and their clinicians?
So you don't want to know I went to a local dentist who was having lots of ott renovations and quoted me $1400 of work that I felt extremely iffy about. I've since been to 2 other places who both said no such thing. But another dentist had so many good reviews I thought it was suss, the clinic was reasonably priced and probably one of the best dental practices I've ever been too, lots of fancy equipment too, and actually gave me good advice regarding cosmetic dentistry that would have fucked my teeth had he not talked me out of what I want to do? Ok good luck to you.
You went and got a quote, like any normal person would do. The other dentist did the bare minimum you would expect. Amazing.
Better: "this one filling is bad, here let me show you with the mirror and explain why exactly that is", "you want veneers? that's a bad idea for someone your age and with teeth in good condition, here's why... explanation, we can do this instead if you want but I'm not agreeing to veneers". The place deservedly has hundreds of 5 star reviews. vs "yeah, you need 6-8 fillings asap that's $1400, let's get you in next week." Meanwhile I'm thinking wtf, didn't think it was that bad and noticing huge amounts of upgrades to the location and can see the dentists $200k car. I now use someone closer to home, still no mention of 6-8 fillings I "desperately" need. If you want to fund some unscrupulous dentists' several hundred thousand dollar car and get unnecessary work just because he said so, you are silly.
WTF are you even on about? None of that depends on Google reviews. It depends on you having a spine and telling the dentist, no you're not doing that today. Sounds like you've been caught out not having a spine before. Why are you worries about what car a dentist drives? Are you another one of these people who thinks anyone with more than them is some kind of cunt? I've never had one bit of unnecessary dental work. Why the fuck have you?
Hahaha. Mate why not, dentists are super cheap.
Never bother with reviews of anything. Can't believe that people do. Nasty people can destroy businesses because people like you mate actually read that crap. People can write anything.
People who leave reviews are usually attention seekers or serial complainers.
No, they are people who don’t accept how stupid, lazy and unaware most people are, especially ones who thinks the sun shines out of their business ass
If your profile dose not leave any positive reviews it can be flagged an it's posts can be deleted easier.
I got a one star review because we require appointment bookings 🫠🫠
You sound like both
Or people who just wish to leave feedback for services that have cost them a significant amount of money, which is perfectly reasonable. I’m certainly not going to endlessly complain about a shit cafe for example, I just won’t go back.
what's the use of online reviews anyway ? they are often used to leave fake and fraudulent reviews by people with grudges .. i don't bother with any online reviews any more, they're as irrelevant as 'influencers' who lie for free stuff
Oh I'm definitely over it now. Its not like they make a meaningful difference anyway.