There is one thing worse than having a bad review on your Google + Business page

(formally known as Google Places page). That one thing that is worse is when the review is not founded, or not related to the business or is a personal attack on a staff member.

I cropped off the bad review in this image as it has one of the staffs names.

So what can you do?

1. You can delete the page & start over however as you can see in this case this business as the top position in a Google local search (Business A) So lets not delete this yet, unless we don’t have another option.
2. We can add about 10 new reviews & hopefully that will push the bad review lower down the page so it ends up in the section click for more reviews’ 
3. The other option is to report a violation to Google. So in this case we will try that first.

How do you report a Google + Review Violation to Google?

1. Do a Google local search eg search ‘Auto Electrician Canberra’
2. Click the link Google Reviews, find the review that is in breach of Google policy violation.
3. Mouse over next to the reviewers name, a small grey flag appears, click that flag & it opens a page ‘Report a policy violation’
4. Choose the Violation Type

• This post contains hateful, violent or inappropriate content
• The post contains advertising or spam
• Off topic
• The post contains conflicts of interest

Then click submit.

Please Note:
The outcome of reporting a Reviews Violation comes down to what Google (the machine) believes & you have no recourse. You may find that your Google+ page disappears or drops in ranking & at the same time  that terrible Google + Review is still there.

If you need a hand with any website, SEO Search Engine Optimisation, Google +, Google pages or listings or any internet marketing issue contact us