When did you go on vacation the last time? What was the first thing that you did after arriving at your destination and checking into your hotel? Going by my ways, you probably thought about where you were going to eat. But how do you find a good place to eat when you are new to an area? There are several ways to do so. One of which is the Google Reviews. In the same breath, we will be seeing how to delete my reviews on Google. But, before that let’s get into a bit more depth into Google Reviews.

Overview

Coming back to the above question? One solution could be, instead of asking the hotel clerk – who is probably a local and has eaten at every place nearby – to most of us whip out our phones and do a quick Google search. Studies show that 80+% of customers will not visit a business until they have read reviews. And, Google reviews play quite a long hand in this scene. Thus, one bad/wrong review/comment can make or break your choices and also the reputation of the business.

How to delete my reviews on Google

Every business hopes to receive positive feedback, but the fact is that customers who have had a bad experience are more likely to write an online review. Thus, it is the job of the customer’s service team to manage the Google reviews and take proper care of comments published on them.

Google Reviews?

Before we get into how you can delete Google reviews, let us first clarify what a Google review is. Other review websites can be confused with the Google review interface.

This, reviews website is integrated with the Google search engine as all well as other Google tools of note.

Note: To identify whether or not the review you are looking at is a Google review, look for the following elements:

  • A star rating indicating Google Reviews and/or #Ratings.
  • There are no other company names in the rating.
  • A rating scale that ranges from one to five.
  • This is not always visible, but can help you recognize a Google review when you see one.

Is it possible to delete a Google Review?

Unfortunately, Google does not offer a simple “delete” option for its reviews. Instead, there are only two ways a review can remove. The person who posted the review can delete it, or your business can flag the review as “inappropriate.” Flagging the review will alert Google that the review is fake or does not meet Google’s review guidelines.

You will then be redirected to the landing page below where you will need to fill out a brief report about the issue and submit your email for further communication.

A point to note here is, there is an in-built spam checker used by Google to analyze and flag a review for irrelevant, illegal, and/or misleading comments. It is quite a reliable feature. But still, since it is Google’s policy to be unbiased therefore there can be times when a negative review has still got traction. In such cases, one has to handle these reviews personally.

How to delete a Google Review?

  • Open maps.google.com, thereafter, look for your business.
  • Thereafter, search for that offending review on your Google reviews page.
  • Click the three vertical dots to the right of the review.
  • Thereafter, select the Report rating option.
  • Then, select an option to ask: What’s wrong with this review?
  • And, report the Google review.
How to delete my reviews on Google

Cases when to flag a review

According to Google, the following issues violate Google’s terms of service. So, if you notice a review that falls under one of these categories, you can request that this content be removed. These categories are:

  • Irrelevant comments
  • Illegal content
  • Inappropriate/offensive/explicit content
  • Conflict of interest
  • Impersonation

Therefore, now look at how to flag a review then.

Here’s a good read on managing your Google Reviews !!

Flagging a review of your business

If someone has written a review about your business that is untrue or otherwise violates Google’s review guidelines, you can flag that review as inappropriate. How? Let’s see :

On Desktop
  • Sign in to Google My Business.
  • If you have multiple listings, you will need to select the correct location.
  • Click on “Reviews” from the menu.
  • Thereafter, look for that review and select the Flag as inappropriate option from the more(three vertical dots) button.
On Smartphone
  • Open your My Business app.
  • Go to “Customers” > “Reviews.”
  • Thereafter, look for that review and tap on “Mark Review” from the more(three vertical dots) button.
Using Google Maps to Flag reviews
  • Go to maps.google.com.
  • Look for your business listing.
  • Then, search for that review and tap on the more button as usual and select “Mark as inappropriate”.

Why should we not report Google reviews

As you can imagine, this process is slow and does not guarantee that your review will be removed. And, even if Google decides to remove the review, there’s no telling when it will actually be removed. In that time, your business could lose thousands of customers waiting for Google to take care of the problem.

The other big drawback is that Google will not remove a review just because it’s negative. The point of Google reviews is to give users unbiased feedback on other customers’ experiences. If those experiences are bad, Google wants its users to know that. So if you are upset about a customer’s opinion, the odds of removal are not in your favor.

Handling Google Reviews

  • Make a response to a customer’s review.
  • Thereafter, ask that customer to remove the offending comments.
  • If there are any issues, resolve it.
  • Finally contact the customer and acknowledge his/her review.

WRAPPING UP!!

In this article, we have come to know about what Google Reviews is? We have also seen how to delete inappropriate reviews or even flag a review. Thus, diligently follow the steps and methods given above, and surely you will succeed. On this enhanced breath and parting note, until next time, see ya !! Goodbye :)~

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