How does Google remove reviews and why does it happen?

Online reviews play an important role in building a business' reputation, but what if they suddenly disappear? Google actively removes reviews that violate its policies, and this can be confusing for business owners and their customers. In this article, we'll take a closer look at how the review removal process works and what factors influence it.

Patterns of deleting reviews

The study, based on the analysis of 5 million reviews from 79 countries and more than 20,000 locations, showed that Google removes both positive and negative reviews. The main reasons include violations of content policy, spam, or fake reviews. For example, negative comments are often longer and more emotional, which increases the likelihood of them being flagged as inappropriate.

When and how often are reviews deleted?

Analysis of time trends showed that the activity of removing reviews has spikes. This may be due to policy updates or automatic application of algorithms. For example, in October 2024, Google introduced an anti-spam update that led to the removal of a large number of incorrect reviews.

Distribution of deleted reviews by ratings

• 5-star reviews: 73.1% of comments removed. This indicates that Google is actively removing fake or incentivised positive reviews.
• 1-star reviews: 12.8% of deletions. Often deleted due to offensive language or spam.
• 2-4 stars: Less likely to be removed as they appear to be more balanced.

Do the answers help the company?

The data shows that 66.1% of the deleted reviews had no response from the business. This highlights the importance of customer engagement. However, even if a company responds to reviews, this does not always guarantee their retention - the quality and authenticity of the content plays a key role.

The main factors for deleting reviews

1. Inauthentic activity

Reviews that look like fake or incentivised reviews are most often deleted.

2. Keywords

Repeated terms such as «great», «service» or «staff» can help to promote deletion if they seem suspicious.

3. Content and tone

Extremely positive or negative ratings (5 or 1 star) are subject to more careful scrutiny.

4. Categories of reviews

Reviews about service and staff are deleted more often because they are the most common.

5. Industries

The hospitality, travel and education sectors have the highest percentage of deletions due to the high level of customer interaction.

How do I protect reviews from being deleted?

1. Interact with reviewers
   Respond promptly to positive and negative reviews.

2. Keep up to date with Google's policies
   Keep yourself up to date with Google's content guidelines on a regular basis.

3. Report fake reviews
   Proactively report reviews that appear to be fake to Google.

4. Avoid incentivised reviews
   Encourage customers to leave organic comments rather than reward them.

5. Use tracking tools
   Local SEO tools can help you track deleted reviews and understand why they were removed.

Conclusion

Google's review removal process is aimed at maintaining honesty and trust on the platform. It's important for businesses to adapt their strategies to ensure that reviews are authentic. By following these simple steps, you can minimise the risk of comments being removed and maintain a positive business image.

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