How to Delete a Google Review

Simply deleting a negative review that has been posted about a business is not something that a business can do. Most likely if a business owner is trying to delete a review, he or she has found themselves on this page (below) before reading this blog post.

It is important to note that the image above is simply instructing a reviewer on how to delete his or her review NOT instructing a business owner on how to delete a negative review that was left about the business.

If a business thinks it is frustrating that a simple delete button does not exist for them to delete reviews about their business, think about it from the customer’s point of view. Imagine, as a customer, having a negative experience with a company, only to discover one can not have his or her voice heard because the business can just delete the review. Consumers and business owners, across the board, should try to imagine that if this simple “delete” button was a thing how illegitimate Google reviews and star ratings would be.

I realize the issue of competitors or ex employees leaving FAKE reviews can be an issue and a delete button would be useful for situations such as that. And for these specific instances, I will run through how to flag a Google review.

Here are a few quick steps to go about flagging a Google review:

*cited from Google support

Desktop

1. Sign in to Google My Business.

2. If you have two or more listings, switch to card view and click Manage location for the location you'd like to manage.

3. Click Reviews from the menu.

4. Find the review you'd like to flag, click the three dot menu , then click Flag as inappropriate.

Mobile

1. Open the Google My Business app.

2. Tap the menu , then tap Reviews.

3. Find the review you'd like to flag, tap the three dot menu , then tap Flag review.

The only other way to get a review deleted is to contact the customer who wrote it. This is can be a time for a business to flex their super customer service powers. More times than not customers just want their voice heard. They are not out to take down the reputation of a business. A call to the upset customer and hearing them out can go a long way. At that time, the business should kindly request them to take down the review. Lastly, if a business resolves its issue quickly and efficiently a recorded 95% of unhappy customers will return back to the business.

If a business is focused on deleting one negative review and is putting a lot of time into figuring out how to get it deleted they are going about and thinking about it all wrong. This is absolutely not the way one should be spending any time when it comes to reputation management.

If a business has a few negative reviews on their listing, that is okay. These statistics below will help someone understand why and hopefully make some business owners let out a sigh of relief.

1. 30% of consumers assume online reviews are fake if there are no negative reviews

2. 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores

Looking at these statistics it plain to see that having a review does not need to send a business owner into panic mode. Now, if there is only negative reviews, YES, bring on panic mode. A business should focus not on getting a review deleted but having many positive reviews put on top of the negative review to bury it. It is important to remember that the majority of consumers do not trust old reviews and the majority only read the three most recent reviews. So the quick takeaway here is: businesses should make sure to keep positive reviews recent and plentiful!

Google reviews are the lifeblood of your business, a few negative reviews aren’t going to bring a business down but ONLY a few negative reviews could.

A business needs to stop focusing on deleting and see opportunity in the next ten customers who leave their business. Seize the day and make sure you are capturing a 5 star Google review from the happy customers and stop putting forth effort to delete one negative review.