A flood of 1-star reviews

[kathleen.rhodes]

I have a client who has received over 15 1-star reviews in the last 24 hours. A handful of the reviews have positive sentiment, but the "reviewer" still selected one star. Is anyone else seeing this and what can we do about it. It's a local HVAC company.

 

[keyserholiday]

I can help you with it. This is a nasty trend in the Hvac space. I see a lot of it in SoCal. Flag the reviews in the dashboard and ask the client if they have any strange messages prior to the attack.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

I can help you with it. This is a nasty trend in the Hvac space. I see a lot of it in SoCal. Flag the reviews in the dashboard and ask the client if they have any strange messages prior to the attack.

I will ask the client. In the meantime, I took a look at 3 of the "people" who left reviews (I haven't looked at all ~15 of them yet); two profiles show that they never left reviews and the third shows that he/she left two reviews in the last 12 hours, the 1-star review for my client in Santa Rosa, CA and a 5-star review for a locksmith in Dallas, TX.

 

[keyserholiday]

This is a paid review attack. Can you provide me me the link to the Dallas locksmith?

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

This is a paid review attack. Can you provide me me the link to the Dallas locksmith?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[keyserholiday]

I found another business in the area under the same attack.
Example 1
Example 2 <- reviewed the same locksmith

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

I found another business in the area under the same attack.
Example 1
Example 2 <- reviewed the same locksmith

Yikes.

 

[keyserholiday]

@kathleen.rhodes so the plot thickens. I had somebody contact me because their competitor is buying reviews. This fake review network is connected to your negative review attack. I also saw one of the businesses that I am monitoring for having fake reviews, is also connected to this network.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@kathleen.rhodes so the plot thickens. I had somebody contact me because their competitor is buying reviews. This fake review network is connected to your negative review attack. I also saw one of the businesses that I am monitoring for having fake reviews, is also connected to this network.

Thanks for your assistance, Jason. My hands are a bit tied right now because the client has had another company do GBP posting and is having them deal with the negative reviews. So far, they have responded to the initial set of 14 1-star reviews and generated 4 new 5-star reviews. But another set of 10 1-star reviews came in yesterday. The company is now down to a 3.4 star rating. I will message you the company name that's doing the posting..

 

[JoyHawkins]

Kathleen,

Jason flagged this and sent it to me so I've sent the network to Google as well to get rid of it.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Kathleen,

Jason flagged this and sent it to me so I've sent the network to Google as well to get rid of it.

Thanks, @JoyHawkins

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

Thanks for your assistance, Jason. My hands are a bit tied right now because the client has had another company do GBP posting and is having them deal with the negative reviews. So far, they have responded to the initial set of 14 1-star reviews and generated 4 new 5-star reviews. But another set of 10 1-star reviews came in yesterday. The company is now down to a 3.4 star rating. I will message you the company name that's doing the posting..

Hi @keyserholiday The client gave me the go ahead to work on this. What else do I need to do. The business is down to a 3.0 star rating today, after another set of ~11 1-star reviews came in today. Should I flag each review?

 

[keyserholiday]

Hi @keyserholiday The client gave me the go ahead to work on this. What else do I need to do. The business is down to a 3.0 star rating today, after another set of ~11 1-star reviews came in today. Should I flag each review?

@kathleen.rhodes you don't need to do anything as @JoyHawkins is working on it.

 

[keyserholiday]

I charge $250 per month to report up to 10 fake or out-of-compliance business profiles. I also have two different prices for review removal services.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

So, in this case, it looks as if there are 40-50 fake profiles, in terms of "people" who left reviews for Valley Comfort Heating and Air. So, that would be multiples of $250 if you were handling it?

I realize that Joy is working on this, but my client has questions about what to expect and how long it might take.

The situation is that a local SEO agency subcontracts with me to do GBP posting, etc. for a handful of their clients, including this client. I'm trying to get an idea as to what to charge, if anything, for working on getting rid of these negative reviews. Maybe nothing if Joy is taking care of it?!? Thanks.

 

[keyserholiday]

I would charge $500 to map out the reviews and report them to Google for removal. It can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks for Google to take action. The best way to expedite it would to be contact the local news station and once they reach out to Google, Google takes swift action.

 

[kathleen.rhodes]

@keyserholiday did an amazing job of reporting ~54, fake 1-star reviews to Google and getting them removed. Thanks to @JoyHawkins for her help in this matter, too! Thank you!!!