It doesn’t matter whether it’s for IT companies, restaurants, hotels, doctors or trades: Google ratings are extremely important and have a significant influence on the behavior of (new) customers. Negative reviews can therefore have a strong business-damaging effect – which is particularly annoying when the experience described is not even true. In the following, we will explain whether and how you can have the ratings removed in such and possibly other cases.
Unfortunately, negative Google reviews cannot be deleted at the push of a button
Unfortunately, you cannot simply delete inappropriate ratings with a click, because Google – unsurprisingly – has the upper hand here. Luckily, there is a way you can request the review to be removed. However, this procedure will only be successful if the registered experience report, i.e. the rating, violates the official Google guidelines. This is the case, for example, if the review contains vulgar, abusive language or the writing is obviously not based on personal experience.
Google assesses whether a review meets these requirements. This can be problematic, because in some cases no clear interpretation is possible. It is also only possible to find out with certainty in a few cases whether the respective user really described first-hand experiences or posted a fake review.
Have Google reviews deleted: how to proceed
Want to report a negative review because it’s damaging your company’s reputation? Then simply follow our step-by-step instructions:
Make sure you’re signed in to Google with your company’s account.
Search for your company using Google Maps or the classic Google website.
Once you’ve found your business listing, navigate to the negative review you want removed.
Click on the flag to report the testimonial. It may also make sense to report the user himself, for example if he uses offensive language in his comment.
Haven’t had any success? Contact the Google legal department!
Unfortunately, experience shows that Google does not always respond to these reports. So if you’re unsuccessful with this approach, it might be worth contacting Google Legal.
There is a form for this purpose that can be accessed online by any user.
You can enter all relevant data in the appropriate fields and explain the facts in detail. Professional support from a lawyer can prove to be a decisive advantage. Then all you have to do is sign the application with a digital signature and send off the form with a mouse click.
That’s why you shouldn’t delete your Google profile
Many who are represented with their company on Google and are annoyed by a negative rating tend to simply delete their company profile and create a new one. Admittedly, this solution sounds tempting at first and a new profile is set up comparatively quickly. Nevertheless, we advise against this step, because your company can still be found via Google search even after deletion. What’s more, once your account is removed, you no longer have any control over it and you can no longer take action against unwelcome reviews. Therefore, we recommend that you rely on the procedures described above.
