Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Any Success Getting Fake 5 Star Google My Business Reviews Removed From Competitors?
-
Hi,
I am working on a competitor who is obviously building up fake reviews using a 3rd party service. I need to build more evidence.
A majority of his reviews on Google My Business, they are done by reviewers with very few reviews (no profile pic), and that seem to review 3-4 companies in the Chicagoland area the exact same day. This happens again and again. It started about 1.5 years ago. Before that everything looks normal.
Any idea how much proof I need to actually get those reviews and/or his company removed? I am working on getting access to a private group on Facebook where he talks about it.
Thanks in advance!
-
Hi Jeff,
I would recommend that you gather as many screenshots and as much other evidence as possible. Then, tweet to @GoogleMyBiz and let them know you want to DM them evidence of a concerning case of widespread review spam. Wait for them to DM you back. I don't recommend doing any of this publicly. Confine your communications to DM.
All you can do is report it and hope for the best. Google doesn't always act on these reports, regardless of how much evidence you send.
If you aren't satisfied with the outcome of your private interaction with Google, you can then make the decision about whether to go public. If an issue is so egregious that it receives a large amount of press, Google can typically be shamed into removing review spam. However, the story has to be fairly sensational to garner that kind of attention.
Good luck. Fake reviews are so prevalent and so bad for real-world communities who don't know what they are reading is fake. Hope it goes well for you.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Schema Code Not Working – Used Business Review Bundle Plugin
Debt Collectors – Debt Collection Agency Melbourne Hi Moz Community One of our client website JMA Credit (https://www.jmacreditcontrol.com.au/ ) We have installed Business Review Bundle Wordpress plugin to display our Google Reviews on our website. https://richplugins.com/business-reviews-bundle-wordpress-plugin Enabled Rich snippet option – to display aggregate rating Schema code available on the source Also, tested on structured data testing tool – it shows everything is fine https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jmacreditcontrol.com.au But, Aggregate rating (star) not displayed on the SERP Page Waiting for valuable response to get this issue fixed
Reviews and Ratings | | Bhisshaun0 -
Not showing up in Google Local Pack despite being #1 ranked for keyword
Hey everyone, This has been an on-going problem that we've been having for a select location of ours. We've been #1 ranked for the keyword "dog groomers near me", however we don't show up in the Google Local Pack (top 3 locations box). We have a high 4.9 rating with 20+ ratings, and the other locations that DO show up have a 2.4 and 3.6 rating with less reviews! I've exhausted every resource and have even geo-tagged our specific photos on our landing pages. I'm not sure what to do anymore as we're already #1 ranked on every similar keyword. Thank you, Anthony
Reviews and Ratings | | anthonydegalbo0 -
BazaarVoice Paginated Reviews Not Honoring Canonical & Indexing Multiple Pages
If there are enough reviews on a product page to warrant page 2, 3 etc, BazaarVoice appends the below snippets to each new page of reviews, which are then also indexed, despite BazaarVoice SEO settings that automate a canonical tag (seemingly since the differing reviews on each page are not similar enough to honor the canonical). <cite class="iUh30">?bvstate=pg:2/ct:r</cite> <cite class="iUh30">?bvstate=pg:3/ct:r</cite> It seems Target.com has found a way to hack the BV code to create a dedicated page to view all reviews: https://www.target.com/p/ultra-soft-fitted-sheet-300-thread-count-threshold-153/-/A-13973172?showOnlyReview=true While Ikea.com blocks it in the Robots file (defeats SEO value) - Noindex: */catalog/products/bvroute=Review Noindex: */catalog/products/bvtab Tons of brands apparently have the issue, and you can see more examples if you search "inurl:bvstate=pg" Anyone aware of a solution to this?
Reviews and Ratings | | Eroc2 -
Does anyone use an embeddable Google review widget?
Currently, I use an embeddable Yelp review widget on my site. The widget I use has been helpful, but is no longer actively maintained and I'd prefer to show Google reviews instead. Does anyone have a recommendation for a widget to embed Google reviews?
Reviews and Ratings | | Dions0 -
Do people receive notifications when you respond to their Google reviews?
If someone leaves a review of your business on your Google My Business listing, and you respond to that review, will they receive an email notification of your response to their review? We are working with a client who has unanswered reviews from several years ago, and though it's best practice to respond to all reviews, we didn't want to respond to reviews from 2013 if the person (who has likely forgot about their experience with the business in question) is going to get an email notifying them of our late response to their review. Thank you!
Reviews and Ratings | | BlueCorona1 -
Rich Snippets (Rating stars) not showing up on website in search results
Hello, I have All in One Schema.org Rich Snippets plugin installed on my WP websites for the star snippets to show up in google search results. I used the Item Review property in this plugin for the homepage and under Reviewer’s Name (added name of author), Item to be reviewed (added brand/business name) and Your Rating (of course 5 :)). Now, the problem occurring is that instead of stars showing up in search results, the date when the respective page was published is showing up in search results. This is happening with all the websites I added plugin in. Am I doing something wrong or what is happening. Please help as i want those stars to show up on the websites. Please help me with any plugin or useful info that can help me with this. Thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | BrianBotts.0 -
Moving my photography business to another state. Is it possible to transfer Google My Business listing WITHOUT losing my Google Reviews?
A friend of mine is transitioning her photography business to another state. She moved about 5 years ago and consequently lost all of her Google+/Yelp reviews. Having reviews as a photographer is EXTREMELY important for her business reputation. She doesn't want this to happen again. Is it possible to change the location of a Google my Business page and keep the existing reviews? Thanks
Reviews and Ratings | | RosemaryB0 -
Blocking Reviews by Blocking Words?
A client sent me an email this week, stating that you could block bad reviews on social media sites by "blocking" certain words from comments such as "I", "you", "them", "they"......she heard it at a conference from some other CEO's that had some problems with bad reviews. Essentially these CEO's blocked these words making the pages read only pages so no one could leave a review on social media sites. Now, I have never heard this tactic, nor think this is a good idea in any way shape or form. And I know that you can't block bad reviews from happening (without looking at the bigger picture and encouraging some look at internal processes and customer service). Has any one heard of this tactic? Or better, know of anywhere online that documents this idea of blocking words? I have to get back to her, but I have beaten the drum about how to acquire good reviews so much, I feel I am not getting through! Help! Thanks
Reviews and Ratings | | cschwartzel0