Reviews not showing up in Google Places

[GregWalt]

We have had several clients tell us their customers are giving them reviews on Google Places, but the reviews are either not showing up at all, or they show up for one day and then disappear.

Has anyone else seen this happening with their clients, or with their own website?

What can we do to get Google to post the reviews or find out why the reviews are not appearing on the places listing?

Thanks for any help.

[SEO02]

Hi Greg,

There are many reasons for reviews not appearing on the google place and it happens to most of the websites.

The link Technical issues with reviews gives a detailed explanation of all the technical issues which are causing for the reviews not to appear.

[MiriamEllis]

Hello Greg,

Thanks for coming to Q&A with your question. I'm the Local SEO Associate here in the forum. As Delive has mentioned, there are a number of common reasons that reviews go missing. In fact, in my recent interview of Google Places Help Forum Top Contributor, Mike Blumenthal (see: http://www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1128) I asked Mike what the most commonly reported issue was and he responded:

Mike: Reviews, Reviews and Review issues.

So, that's how big of a problem this is.

Right at this moment, there is a known shakeup going on. See this thread in the Google Places Help Forum and read Vanessa's response:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Places/thread?tid=30598b3a81e58555&hl=en

Read Mike Blumenthal's Google+ post on this:

https://plus.google.com/106412255733219697839/posts/1ZwuWSYZhR9?gpinv=AMIXal8te4CtF6Uf6-5c1u71P5AfxzdlluVrLJXRwTB-FzahblJnPA_m71tyIsNgZ-NG_-oxbiYrxx7N1ljZSi9fIBtHZFfRr1yhXF2Zuh4OogV36Ws2Dgc&hl=en

So, your clients' vanished reviews may well be part of this work going on. Sit tight. Don't touch anything. Monitor what's going on and keep checking the G. Places Help Forum to see if someone posts an update on this. If, after a few weeks, the reviews have not returned, it will be soon enough to suspect another problem.

Hope this advice and up-to-the-minute news helps!

Miriam

[PerfectPitchConcepts]

Is this a known ongoing problem? My client still has weeks-old reviews that aren't showing up on his + Places page. I'm under the impression this problem is widespread? I wonder why it affects some businesses while others rake in the ratings?

Thank you,

Stephen

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Stephen,

Yes, this is very much a known problem. If your clients are involved, first step for them is to report their issues to this thread in the Google and Your Business Forum:

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/business/0f1Cu9yLIzY/J21OJDPL1NUJ[1-25]

This thread was started by Google Forum Top Contributor, Mike Blumenthal, to consolidate all of the complaints into one place for review. So, go there and list each client separately (or have them do it themselves) with documentation of what each is experiencing.

Additionally, here is a blog post on this topic from Joy Hawkins that I think will be helpful to you:

http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/google-maps/a-way-to-avoid-the-google-local-review-spam-filter/

Also, if any of your clients happen to be in the auto dealership industry, be advised that Google appears to be cracking down on reviews in that sector with especial vigor. See:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2012/08/08/what-should-you-tell-a-client-when-google-loses-their-reviews-a-4-part-plan/

Hope these resources will help you feel up-to-date on this issue, and maybe even help you resolve your client's troubles.