Google Business Review Question

[Danny2010]

I have noticed some companies on Google do not have any reviews and you cannot even leave a review for them. Google simply shows there web site link only. If I am starting my business advertising online how can I get Google only to list my company web site address and turn off the option for people to leave reviews on Google? What I want is when someone surches for me on google all they see is my company info and web link, NO reviews.

[Harold Mansfield]

I could be wrong, but I don't think there is a way to turn this off since people can leave a review for you from their own account. They don't have to be on your page. Google also pulls reviews relevant to your business from 3rd party sites which they, nor you have any control over.

Just like you can't prevent people from leaving a review about you on Yelp.

[Freelancier]

I don't think there is a way to turn this offMight be country-specific, since in the EU there are all kinds of interesting rules about the Internet that we don't get to consider here in the USA.

[Danny2010]

Might be country-specific, since in the EU there are all kinds of interesting rules about the Internet that we don't get to consider here in the USA.


Ok so if you search United Cab of New Orleans on google you will get their web page listing but no google reviews. How are they able to keep google reviews off of their business ?

[KristineS]

Could just be that no one has reviewed them.

[Freelancier]

I don't see a google+ listing for them at all. I see their own site and yelp/whitepages/etc. listings for them.

[Danny2010]

Yes that's exactly how I am trying to get my listing to be, just like theirs with no reviews

[Freelancier]

Have you tried deleting your google+ page for your company?

[Harold Mansfield]

Do you have any reviews now? Or does it display a zero or "no reviews" message?

[Danny2010]

No I have a bunch of reviews. I have not deleted my google + page because I want to make sure it will change this and not risk messing things up.

[Harold Mansfield]

If you completely delete your G+ account, including your Google Local (or Places) then there will be nowhere to display the review count in Google.
However, that won't delete online reviews from other websites that Google picked up.

Is the problem that you have a bunch of bad reviews? Or do you have fraudulent reviews from people who you've never served?

[Danny2010]

Reviews from people who I have never served and have found them to be from a competitor. All directions with Google to get it resolved or taken down have led to nothing.

[Harold Mansfield]

Reviews from people who I have never served and have found them to be from a competitor. All directions with Google to get it resolved or taken down have led to nothing.
Google moves really slow. The anonymous review thing is an issue and they know it.

I did this a while back with Yelp, and it eventually worked:

Respond to the reviews. Respond to the reviewer that you have no record of ever having served them, and ask them to confirm when you actually served them ( time, date, invoice, type of service, and so on) so that you can address their complaint.

This does 2 things for you: It shows Google that you aren't ignoring bad reviews, that you are making an attempt to rectify the situation, but more importantly when the reviewer doesn't respond or can't prove that you've served them it gives Google a little more to go on that it is likely fraudulent and you aren't just trying to get Google to hide your bad reviews.

It also shows anyone who reads your response that you are engaged and care about feedback, and it outs the reviewer as full of crap when they can't prove that they were ever a customer.

Many times how you respond to reviews can do you more good than no reviews at all. It's a chance for you to look professional and to make them look stupid.


Don't run from it and delete your entire Google Plus presence. That's throwing the baby out with the bath water. Use it as an opportunity to shine and move on.
Also solicit happy customers to leave good reviews to push your over all score up.

[Brian Altenhofel]

Google moves really slow.

Yep.

I had a client that had a competitor that was setting up dozens of fake Google accounts and leaving bad reviews for every other shop but theirs and leaving reviews on their own shop to the tune of "after I got screwed over at this other place...".

Six months later, they were sandboxed.

[ThinkCreate]

Yep.

I had a client that had a competitor that was setting up dozens of fake Google accounts and leaving bad reviews for every other shop but theirs and leaving reviews on their own shop to the tune of "after I got screwed over at this other place...".

Six months later, they were sandboxed.

Good to here that Google are addressing this issue - it's something that causes a lot of headaches for small businesses here in Australia. It's not uncommon to find false reviews or malicious reviews on Google + or other directories, and some of the businesses I work with really struggle to deal with this. It's worth noting that, in Australia, the ACCC can fine businesses for posting false reviews or misleading reviews. Despite this, we've still got the same issues that seem to plague review sites in the USA, although companies caught by the regulator can expect their fake reviews tricks to appear on the front of national newspapers!

Our experience has been that it's impossible to prevent people leaving reviews - even if you remove your Google+ page, your business details will still get 'scraped' and published on other reviewing platforms, such as Yelp. For this reason, I usually recommend to business owners that, rather than being a ticking bomb they have no control over, they take control of their online reputation and use it as a positive selling tool! I get so many enquiries from businesses looking for guidance and advice on managing online reputations and fixing negative reviews that I'm working with a couple of other specialists to put together a simple 'how to' guide to help small businesses manage their online reputation. (O/T, but if anybody's got suggestions/comments about what we should be adding, please let me know!)

Ultimately, it's not very different to managing your local word-of-mouth reputation, and most of the work involved is fairly simple: Harold is spot-on:


Don't run from it and delete your entire Google Plus presence. That's throwing the baby out with the bath water. Use it as an opportunity to shine and move on.
Also solicit happy customers to leave good reviews to push your over all score up.

However you choose to proceed, OP, I wish you success, and hope you succeed in building your business the online reputation it deserves!

[nerochat]

my friends for example don't go to restaurants with bed reviews...even don't read them...