Google reviews: Why suppressing negative feedback may not be the best idea

Andrew Hurrell • November 21, 2022

Google guidelines have been updated to reflect its stance against businesses discouraging negative reviews or soliciting positive feedback. So what does this mean for you?

Google's review guidelines around suppressing or discouraging negative reviews have been updated – make sure you understand what that means for your business!

Customers have been able to leave reviews online for many years. Research shows that prospective customers rely on user reviews when making purchasing decisions regarding a product or service. Online marketplaces and social media platforms have grown massively; there are now hundreds of sites dedicated to building reviews and providing potential customers with insight into the experience others have had when buying from a business.

Of course, business owners are keen to ensure that this feedback is as positive as possible. After all, reviews can quite literally make or break a company. This has led to some slightly underhand – and in some cases, downright illegal – practices, such as fake accounts leaving fake reviews, the suppression of bad reviews, leaving negative comments on competitors' sites to affect their search rankings and paying for positive reviews.

Sadly, it has been all too easy for some companies to use bogus reviews and endorsements to build their reputation.

As such, Google's review guidelines have been updated and they are very explicit when it comes to soliciting positive online reviews and downplaying the negative. There is a new line that says that discouraging or prohibiting bad reviews is not allowed. Nor is selectively soliciting great reviews (by payment, goods in kind etc).

Most SEOs state that this is not actually new as this sort of practice has been prohibited for a very long time, but Google adding this new line to its 'contributed guidelines' makes it crystal clear.

So what do you need to know about Google's review policies?

You are allowed to ask customers to leave a genuine review when it comes to Google. Other sites such as Yelp prohibit this but Google actively encourages it. In fact, it provides a free marketing kit of stickers, posters etc to make it easier for business owners to ask for new reviews.

However, there are a few common mistakes that you should avoid:

Review gating is a no-no. This is when a business asks about their customer's experience before then encouraging them to post a positive review on Google but message privately if they'd had a bad experience. This practice has become quite common as it solicits positive online reviews in the public eye, whilst hiding unhappy customers who need further attention to avoid posts about any negative experience.
Reviews cannot contain prohibited or restricted content, such as:
Spam, fake or duplicate content
Biased content – you cannot review your own business or post false information regarding your competitors
Off-topic reviews, such as personal attacks, political commentary etc. Stick to business location, services, products and user experience!
Dangerous, derogatory, sexually explicit, offensive or terrorist material

Don't try to buy reviews!

Don't incentivise customer reviews

You may think that as long as no money changes hands, a little incentive is fine when it comes to encouraging multiple reviews. However, the reality is that Google (and other review platforms) has taken action against businesses that have offered people gifts and giveaways in return for positive reviews. Regulating bodies will also deem this practice as 'a deceptive review practice' and take legal action against the offender.

So please, be careful about how you obtain customer feedback for your business from now on. If you don't comply with Google's updated review policy, you could see reviews being removed. You could even end up with your Google business profile being suspended and legal action being taken against you.

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