Local Internet Marketing

Are Google Reviews Worth Reading Anymore?

If you are searching for a local business, you have probably visited the Google search engine and typed in keywords to try and find the best business to use. If you were presented with Google Places results you may have clicked on one of the links and found some of the businesses had a bunch of Google reviews to give a look at what others thought about that business.

Isn’t it wonderful to be able to read what others are saying about a local business and using that information to help you determine who deserves your business?

Slow down! Those shiny 5 star Google reviews may not be from real customers!

Let’s step back for a minute…

Back in January of 2012 I wrote a blog post explaining why small businesses should not be using Reputation Management companies that put fake reviews up in Google Places. You can read the Earlier blog post here. Are You Buying Reviews For Google Places?

In that post I revealed some pretty underhanded things that businesses were doing and fired a warning out to these companies that buying fake reviews is not a good long term strategy for your business. I pointed out car dealers specifically because it is very prevalent in some large markets and when doing a little digging very easy to spot!

With the latest Google updates like Panda and Penguin, it may be time to rethink how you collect Google reviews.

Is there a Google Fake Review Slap Coming Soon?

Google is not going to sit back and allow you to continue to post fake reviews to boost your image. Reputation management is supposed to be exactly what it says. You monitor your reputation online and find out what people are saying about your business. When you find reviews that are negative you react to them in a professional manner. Google allows you to respond to every review posted on Google Places positive or negative.

Buying Fake Google Reviews to Suppress Negative Reviews is not Reputation Management!

I have looked at hundreds of small business Google Places pages and have seen certain patterns. These patterns are easy to spot, and if I can find them, you know Google can.  I discovered quite a few Car Dealers that are obviously buying fake reviews and when a negative review pops up on page one of  their Google Places page the review company immediately publishes 5 new positive fake reviews to push the negative review on to page 2 of the reviews.

Burying Negative Reviews To Show Only Positive Reviews!

You see, most people reading reviews rarely click to the next page. If they read 5 positive reviews they will usually feel good about that business.  When a person uses a company because of the reviews they read and they get a bad experience it hurts Google’s reputation because the reviews were fake.

I have found numerous reputable Car Dealers doing this. When you dig into the interior review pages of their Google Places listing you find a myriad of negative reviews. None of these reviews were responded to by the car dealer. Why not address these negative reviews? If you are truly all about customer service why are you not proactively responding to every negative response?

Responding to negative reviews can actually work to your advantage. Most people realize that no one is perfect and when they see a business actively responding it gives them a feeling that you care and want to make things better. If a competitor is spamming your reviews that to will usually be revealed.

Why posting fake reviews will catch up with you.

When looking at dozens of car dealers I simply click on the profile link of the reviewer and there is all the evidence you need. These fake review profiles leave an easily tracked pattern of positive reviews for the same companies. I noticed that there was a pattern of reviews that covered the same exact companies. Many of these reviewers left reviews for numerous car dealers and I even found a large dental company in there also.

Where should you get real Google reviews?

From your customers!  They are the only people that should be commenting on your business. Google is going to figure out that your fake reviews were purchased and when they do, who knows how severe they will slap your business listing.

The problem for most businesses is… satisfied clients will usually say thanks and go on their way. However, a dissatisfied customer will take the time to go online and let the whole world know.

I have worked with numerous small businesses and some are very proactive and have been slowly building positive reviews from satisfied customers. Unless you are a brand new company you should have a list of satisfied customers. Ask them if they mind leaving a few good words about your business and make it easy for them to leave reviews.

• Put a review page on your website that links out to your Google Places page and any of your other directory listings like Yelp, Yahoo, Kudzu etc….
• Do you collect email addresses from customers? This is a great opportunity to email a link to your customers and ask them if they mind taking a few minutes to click over and leave a few kind words about their experience. You should also invite them to your Facebook Fan Page also.
• If they have a smart phone, ask them while they are at your business if they want to log on right there. DO NOT set up a computer in your place of business for them to log onto because Google sees all your reviews coming from the same IP address and this looks unnatural.

Are you getting the message here? The best way to increase you Google reviews is to ask for them! If you are sitting around waiting for happy customers to log on and leave positive comments, you may get a few but don’t expect an explosion of reviews.

Handle Negative Reviews like a professional!

Most negative reviews are written on emotion. A pissed off customer can write some pretty nasty things about you. Some of these things may be truthful and some may be the result of miscommunication. Even if they call you some nasty names, or question your integrity, you absolutely must rise above them and answer in a highly professional manner. DO NOT respond to a negative comment in anger! NEVER!

Remember, thousands of people will be reading your response and judging your business based on how you handle disgruntled customers. DO NOT get sucked into the emotional whirlpool regardless of what the person writes about you. If they are truly an angry customer and you handle it properly they will probably remove the comment. If they are being totally unreasonable, keep your cool. I have seen instances where your loyal customers have left comments praising you and calling the negative commenter to the table.

Find Out Exactly What You Reputation Management Company is doing for you before you sign on!

When I wrote my original post last January it received a lot of attention and comments from concerned business owners. Here are the final thoughts for business owners or marketing managers. If you are outsourcing your reviews you are opening yourself up to getting fake reviews. These fake review companies don’t care what happens to your ranking. When Google strikes back at review spam, they will close up and move on leaving you holding the bag and picking up the pieces.

When Google pulls the big slap it will be hard and without much notice. You may find all of your reviews disappeared or worse yet Google decided to ban your Places page entirely. If you are getting numerous bad reviews maybe you need to look at how you do business and use the negative feedback to improve how you treat people.

Buying fake Google reviews may seem to be working right now, but just as the latest Panda updates and now the Penguin update by Google hit people hard, the Google review spam update may be right around the corner.

What do you think? Should you report fake reviews to Google?

Know some businesses using fake reviews? What if it was directly hurting your business? What if it was in an Industry that requires the utmost integrity, like a fertility clinic.  I want to hear what you think in the comments box below!