POST FAKE GOOGLE REVIEWS. GET SANCTIONED.
It’s all part of a new offer from Google to the UK Competition And Markets Authority. We have seen some delisting of Google Business Profiles (GBP) already occurring in the US, but we have never seen this type of stated policy before by Google. Here’s what you need to know:
- WARNING ALERTS: Google will begin putting these on GBPs that use fake reviews to increase their star ratings.
- WARNING ALERTS WILL BE VISIBLE ON GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILES: This will certainly nullify your past positive ratings and render your Google Customer Ratings as not believable by any of your future customers looking to do business with you.
- GOOGLE CUSTOMER RATINGS ARE EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL IN BUILDING TRUST WITH PROSPECTS: According to our more than decade of SEO consulting, they are second only to your “ABOUT US” page in pages viewed on your website.
- FLOUT THE RULES? Have new reviews be disabled by Google. We’ve seen this happen before but it’s never stated as a policy.
- REPEAT OFFENDERS: They will have their new reviews disabled for 6 months.
- GOOGLE WILL TAKE “RIGOUROUS STEPS TO DETECT AND REMOVE FAKE REVIEWS”: This has been offered by Google to settle this matter in the UK.
Our recommendation is to follow the above actions in the UK as Google is still trying to work out a settlement to their loss in the US over anti-competitive practices leading to monopolies, and these types of offers will benefit Google here. For more information, see “Google to Tag Firms That Use Fake Reviews” by Edith Hancock in the WSJ, 01/25-26/2025.
Onward & Upward!
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