Disgruntled former employee leaves 9 1-star reviews and counting on GMB listing

[abbietorres]

Hello everyone,
One of my clients had a disgruntled former employee leave 9 1 star reviews on their GMB listing. The reviews were all posted around the same time and the names that were used are singers or actors names. I have checked all the profiles of the alleged people leaving the bad review and they all have one contribution: the negative review on my client's GMB Profile. We flagged the reviews for removal under "Conflict of Interest" with no success. We also had a call with Google Support that informed us that the reviews are not violating guidelines thus could not be removed. Just wanted to check if anyone had advice on how to move forward to get these reviews removed.

Thanks!

 

[JoyHawkins]

Ugh, that sounds frustrating. If Google is refusing to remove them then I would probably advise you seek legal counsel. Obviously, that option isn't cheap but if it's damaging the business, I would say it's worth it.

 

[Don Archer]

Hello everyone,
One of my clients had a disgruntled former employee leave 9 1 star reviews on their GMB listing. The reviews were all posted around the same time and the names that were used are singers or actors names. I have checked all the profiles of the alleged people leaving the bad review and they all have one contribution: the negative review on my client's GMB Profile. We flagged the reviews for removal under "Conflict of Interest" with no success. We also had a call with Google Support that informed us that the reviews are not violating guidelines thus could not be removed. Just wanted to check if anyone had advice on how to move forward to get these reviews removed.

Thanks!

I have had this happen before and had success at getting the review removed by replying. I'm not sure if my reply to the reviewer made the difference or not. But, I simply stated in the reply that the account is obviously a "fake account" and pointing out that there's just one review on that account. I'm not saying that my reply is what prompted Google to remove the negative review, but the review was removed. Also, try flagging the reviews more than once. Good luck

 

[abbietorres]

Ugh, that sounds frustrating. If Google is refusing to remove them then I would probably advise you seek legal counsel. Obviously, that option isn't cheap but if it's damaging the business, I would say it's worth it.

Thank you!

 

[abbietorres]

I have had this happen before and had success at getting the review removed by replying. I'm not sure if my reply to the reviewer made the difference or not. But, I simply stated in the reply that the account is obviously a "fake account" and pointing out that there's just one review on that account. I'm not saying that my reply is what prompted Google to remove the negative review, but the review was removed. Also, try flagging the reviews more than once. Good luck

Thanks for the tip!

 

[dheergm]

Have you flagged his profile too? It may help more faster.