Unfortunate event has triggered review and image attacks across multiple listings

[Tiggerito]

At the end of last year an employee at one of my clients locations did something bad that made the news.

This has triggered quite a few 1 star reviews, reviews with nasty comments and photos of the incident on other locations under the brand. Obviously affecting those other locations even though they were nothing to do with it. People just Googled the brand name and started posting.

What's the best thing to do:

Report all malicious reviews and photos as not relevant to the place?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hi Tony,

Google will remove the reviews if you can demonstrate that they are a result of the media attention.

8 types of negative reviews Google will remove - Search Engine Land

Is someone getting back at your company by leaving negative reviews? Contributor Joy Hawkins shares types of reviews Google tends to remove and how to make them disappear.

searchengineland.com

Review case #8
If you get a lot of negative reviews as a result of a controversial media incident, you have a case to get the reviews removed.

In the case below, a university was getting hit with a high number of negative reviews due to a free speech controversy reported in the news. The vast majority of people leaving the reviews had never had an experience with the college but left negative reviews anyway because they felt passionate about the cause. In the end, Google removed over 100 reviews.

Has your business experienced similar review issues? If so, I suggest posting over on the Google My Business (GMB) forum or contacting GMB via Twitter or Facebook for help in removing your negative reviews.

 

[Tiggerito]

Thanks, I've messaged GMB on Facebook.

 

[LisaB]

Great idea to message them on Facebook!

 

[Tiggerito]

response was to report them all and wait at least 3 days. Then follow up if required.

 

[Tiggerito]

Unfortunately the final response was that these reviews and images did not break any rules :-(