More threads by obcted

obcted

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So I've been following this topic for a while now, here and elsewhere. I understand that google is working on it but this has been going on for a client of mine for about 6 months and we now have some good documentation.

I've read the post here:

I've submitted a ticket here: Sign in - Google Accounts
and opened a post here: Sign in - Google Accounts
Here's the post: https://support.google.com/business/thread/166543588?hl=en

In short my client tells me 10+ have gone missing Since February 2022. After a while he started having his clients send screenshots because they would tell them they left reviews but they wouldn't show. I have proof of 3 but client is insisting it's many many more.

If I could get at least some of these restored it would go a long way.

Client has 2 offices (Boston MA and Salem MA)

Here are the respective profiles:

&

NameLocationReview DateScreenshot?
Bryan DawleyBoston4/28/22Yes
Andrew RichSalem2/28/22Yes
Madeline DelgadoBoston2/12/22Yes

Bryan Dawler May 3 22Screenshot.jpg



Andrew Rich Feb 2 2022.jpg



Madeline Delgado.jpg


@JoyHawkins any tips or tricks aside from what I've done so far? These are all clients of my lawyer clients and they are not posting from his office or anything to trigger an IP issue. I'm at a loss for what to do and client is getting frustrated. Any advice you or anyone in the community has would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Ted
 
Solution
Not only has the filter got stricter, but they also have been doing waves of takedowns lately so I'm hearing tons of reports of businesses losing reviews in the last week that were published before but then got removed recently.

One thing to try is instead of sending customers a link to review you with, tell them to search for you on Google and leave a review. That *might* help - it's worth testing.

I'll go escalate your thread on the Google forum now.
From what i understand.... google WILL NOT reinstate reviews because they love to say it violated their TOS or whatever the case may be...
 
It seems they tend to be filtering "new" reviewers and "1 and done" reviewers. Similar to Yelp.
Perhaps if these people continue to leave reviews elsewhere and build up their profile, they may get unfiltered?

I know when I see "1 review" on a profile, I question it as legit, so perhaps that is part of Google's filter?

It's not 100%, but a high percentage.
 
Not only has the filter got stricter, but they also have been doing waves of takedowns lately so I'm hearing tons of reports of businesses losing reviews in the last week that were published before but then got removed recently.

One thing to try is instead of sending customers a link to review you with, tell them to search for you on Google and leave a review. That *might* help - it's worth testing.

I'll go escalate your thread on the Google forum now.
 
Solution
@JoyHawkins - I'm having similar issues with at least two of my clients. Clients are very upset and starting to blame us as digital marketers for the issue. What can do we do here to fix the problem?
 

Thanks Joy! Unfortunately I'm having no luck with the Google team - but the main crux of the problem is this - I have clients getting legitimate reviews that abide by all known policies and these reviews are not even getting posted to the profile. My client is a SAB - Garage Door Repair, and so obviously works on location. I'd just like to ensure all future legitimate reviews are posted.
 
You can try the thing I posted above:

Hi @JoyHawkins - thank you for your reply and attention on this. Unfortunately, we have tried this technique and had no luck. I'm wondering how to ensure the Google team knows the value of this issue? We've also been asked to ask clients to copy and paste their reviews and send them to Google for review directly... but surely Google understand how bad this is for business?
 
@JoyHawkins I know in the past you've had some luck with getting reviews reinstated. Could you let me know the process and what we'd have to do to ensure my client is able to show the legitimate reviews they've received?
 
The process is listed in that article I linked to, at the end in blue.
 
The process is listed in that article I linked to, at the end in blue.

Thank you! But there's a bit of a snag there. Actually a couple: if the company doesn't receive any notification of the reviews, how do they know how many are missing? Secondly, which company is going to bother their customer to ask for evidence of their review? My client has no way of knowing exactly how many reviews are missing - they just know they can't receive them. They know they have at least four missing - so surely it's not a review content issue - as they are four unique reviews. Any guidance you can provide would be fantastic.
 
Have your client do what I asked mine to do - gather evidence by having reviewers screenshot reviews they wrote. If they won't do it then at least it takes it off you (since you're doing everything you can).
 
Thank you! But there's a bit of a snag there. Actually a couple: if the company doesn't receive any notification of the reviews, how do they know how many are missing? Secondly, which company is going to bother their customer to ask for evidence of their review? My client has no way of knowing exactly how many reviews are missing - they just know they can't receive them. They know they have at least four missing - so surely it's not a review content issue - as they are four unique reviews. Any guidance you can provide would be fantastic.

I didn't say it was a good process :LOL:. In my opinion, it's stupid that Google requires this info but all the cases I've escalated that have been successful have provided this information. I agree with what @obcted posted above.
 
@thebizguy even though Google's standard policy/response is that they won't reinstate any reviews, that is not entirely true from our experience. The process that Joy has outlined has worked for us to re-instate reviews for both our own firm and some of our clients.
That said, it's not a perfect process, and thankfully the GBP product experts, like Joy, are helping escalate these issues and get past the canned responses from Google stating that there's nothing they can do.
@SeoSaur you might want to start backing up the reviews locally if you're not already doing so. That way you can compare published reviews against live reviews. There's plenty of 3rd party software that monitors total number of reviews, so hopefully someone soon will roll out a feature that automates checking to see if any previously published reviews are "removed."
Also, check out our blog that covers some additional aspects of how Google's filtering is working at a high level.
 
Not only has the filter got stricter, but they also have been doing waves of takedowns lately so I'm hearing tons of reports of businesses losing reviews in the last week that were published before but then got removed recently.

One thing to try is instead of sending customers a link to review you with, tell them to search for you on Google and leave a review. That *might* help - it's worth testing.

I'll go escalate your thread on the Google forum now.

Yes, this is a good strategy. Google wants you to "visit" the business (preferably a few times using Chrome) by searching for the business online before you place your review.

Guess what? If you don't place your review after multiple visits, Google will remind you to place your review🤣
 

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