Mobile google review request glitch with adding photos to reviews?

[Hannah Brown]

We've discovered something quite odd with Google review requests the past few weeks. I've tested this on several reputation management platforms for our clients using Chekkit, Podium, Gatherup, etc. It seems that any review software that sends a mobile text request to write a Google review does not populate the button to add photos to a review on mobile. This became problematic when one of our lawn care clients was specifically sending out review requests asking for the customer to post before/after photos of their lawn that they have. Many customers were frustrated because the review URL when opened on their phone did not have that option to post photos. I'm attaching 2 photos for reference. The one with the "add photos" button only appears if we get to the reviews by manually going to Google and finding the profile. The photo that does not have that option is when it's coming from a review platform using the /local/writereview. Again this is only on mobile not desktop.

There are some people that still see the photos option, however the majority do not. We've cleared our cache, have new phones, some are androids and some are iphones. This appears to be a Google glitch.

Since most rep management softwares automatically create the review link and we cannot manually change that, we're not sure how to handle this?

 

[ElizabethRule]

I've never encountered anything like this, but great find! It would seem Google is giving different options based on how a user finds the review section.

There has been a ton of debate recently on the best way to ask customers to review a business (see this thread) including whether is is better to send them a link vs have them do a manual search and click review directly from the SERPs. I've been suggesting to people to have their customers manually search as it *might* help the reviews not get flagged and show up on the profile (key word might, we don't know for sure...)

Your situation here seems to further the case that manual search may be the best method.

I think it would be worth bringing up to the review management platform you use, as they are the only ones who can change the link. Also it would be pertinent of the review management platform to do some testing as this is a serious flaw in their system if users cannot post photos (huge missed opportunity for businesses).

 

[Hannah Brown]

Yeah, so unfortunately the platforms support teams we've spoken with have said they can't do anything, which is somewhat accurate. Because it's a flaw with the /local/writereview URL which most rep management tools are generating from the Google Business Profile automatically.

 

[ElizabethRule]

Super unfortunate. If there was another type of link they could test that would be ideal.

 

[lonerangerseo]

Hi, we've also had clients reporting this issue as recently as last week.. We give them the url short link directly that their customers can open on their phones after their service. When it's done this way the add photos disappears! Nice to know that it can still be done but they have to go through manual search. Cheers

 

[CaribouFondue]

I still think that link is a mistake, and you shouldn't use it. it lets google filter what reviews are "authentic" and which have been fed by the company.

GMB's "Get messages from customers" link is a trap!

In Google My Business you have the option to generate a link to share with your customers so that they can leave you reviews, it looks like this: An example of a generated link from this form is this: https://g.page/r/CWrE1V2G-kKCEAg/review It seems to me that this would be a great way for...

localsearchforum.com

 

[CaribouFondue]

I thought i should share a more helpful reply. There is a way to work around this, you can craft a clever link for mobile users that will take your customer directly to the review form (and it will be the with photos version).

https://www.google.com/search?q=toronto-zoo&ludocid=11392271285188539864&ibp=gwp;0,7&source=g.page.share#lkt=LocalPoiReviews&lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D

If you visit the above link from mobile you will get a review form that allows you to add photos:

You need to change q=toronto-zoo and ludocid=11392271285188539864. As far as i can tell, the `lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D` part is always like that, and does not change.

The search query doesn't matter just put is as your business name with hyphens.
To get the ludocid parameter, you can see this article:

How to Find the CID Number of a Google Business Listing | What is A CID Number? | SEO Experts | Sterling Sky Inc.

If you’re wondering how to find a cid number for a Google My Business (Google Business Profile), the fastest way to do this is to install the GatherUp Chrome Extension. This tool checks the listing and identifies the CID numbers (also called ludocid) so you don’t have to look for them yourself...

www.sterlingsky.ca

Note: this only works for mobile users, it will break on desktop, best to point your users to a page like https://www.my-company-website.com/reivew-us/google
and on this page use server side script to detect useragent, then redirect user accordingly, if mobile you can use the above format, if desktop, use the GMB share link instead.