Why Did Google Remove My Reviews?

Taylor Steele Taylor Steele | November 4, 2019

Getting a good review is one of the best things for you as a business. It’s a great feeling to receive affirmation from a client that you provided superior service, as well the fact that it helps to persuade potential clients to hire your firm. It can be frustrating as a business owner when you realize that one of your hard-earned Google My Business reviews has been removed. But where did it go and why?

Reasons That May Cause a Review to Disappear

There are a few reasons why Google may have removed a review from your profile. The most common is that Google’s spam detection algorithm has flagged some of your reviews, and they have been removed from your company’s listing. The review could also have been flagged for review by a competitor or any other user that felt the review did not comply with Google’s Guidelines.

Here are some of the common elements that may cause a review to be flagged and removed:

  • The Review Contains a URL
  • The person who wrote the review is an account manager or employee.
  • The review was left from the same computer/IP address that you sign into to manage your listing in Google My Business.
  • The review was left from the same IP address as other users who left you a review.
  • The client tried to post a review for you several times on different dates.
  • You hired an SEO company to post reviews for you.
  • The review was left from an onsite review station at your location.
  • You are offering incentives for clients who wrote the reviews.
  • The review contains a word that is against Google Guidelines.
  • The reviewer is not in close proximity to your business.

Outside of these common infractions, it could be due to a bug that is affecting the platform.

What you can do

Depending on the reason why the review was removed, it can be difficult to have the problem addressed or have the review reinstated. If a legitimate review was detected and accidentally removed by Google’s algorithm in an effort to remove fake reviews, it may or may not be restored. Even reaching out to support will not prove to be very helpful as they are unable to view or restore reviews that have been removed as part of spam-fighting efforts.

If you think it may be related to a recent bug, only time will tell whether the issue gets resolved. There is nothing account owners can do as the problem is all on Google’s end.

If you still maintain a great relationship with the client, they may be able to edit and repost their review to meet community guidelines. This may cause the review to be displayed on your company’s listing again.

Even though it’s frustrating when legitimate reviews are removed on accident, I choose to remain positive that Google is trying to solve the growing problem of fake reviews online and will continue to get better at identifying and removing reviews in the future.