The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Reviews and Ratings
    4. Any Success Getting Fake 5 Star Google My Business Reviews Removed From Competitors?

    Any Success Getting Fake 5 Star Google My Business Reviews Removed From Competitors?

    Reviews and Ratings
    3 3 502
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • vetofunk
      vetofunk last edited by

      Hi,

      I am working on a competitor who is obviously building up fake reviews using a 3rd party service. I need to build more evidence.

      A majority of his reviews on Google My Business, they are done by reviewers with very few reviews (no profile pic), and that seem to review 3-4 companies in the Chicagoland area the exact same day. This happens again and again. It started about 1.5 years ago. Before that everything looks normal.

      Any idea how much proof I need to actually get those reviews and/or his company removed? I am working on getting access to a private group on Facebook where he talks about it.

      Thanks in advance!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • MiriamEllis
        MiriamEllis last edited by

        Hi Jeff,

        I would recommend that you gather as many screenshots and as much other evidence as possible. Then, tweet to @GoogleMyBiz and let them know you want to DM them evidence of a concerning case of widespread review spam. Wait for them to DM you back. I don't recommend doing any of this publicly. Confine your communications to DM.

        All you can do is report it and hope for the best. Google doesn't always act on these reports, regardless of how much evidence you send.

        If you aren't satisfied with the outcome of your private interaction with Google, you can then make the decision about whether to go public. If an issue is so egregious that it receives a large amount of press, Google can typically be shamed into removing review spam. However, the story has to be fairly sensational to garner that kind of attention.

        Good luck. Fake reviews are so prevalent and so bad for real-world communities who don't know what they are reading is fake. Hope it goes well for you.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • Zeotools0
          Zeotools0 last edited by

          This post is deleted!
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 1 / 1
          • First post
            Last post
          • How to make Google show reviews from Facebook and Google My Business?
            MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis
            0
            2
            29

          • Respond to Google Review as Business or Individual?
            MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis
            0
            5
            149

          • What types of businesses does Google display reviews in SERP for?
            MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis
            0
            7
            117

          • What's the best way to keep Google My Business reviews when the business changes names?
            MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis
            1
            6
            153

          • Want to use Google Business Pages but Spam Reviews are putting me off
            imoprojects
            imoprojects
            0
            5
            390

          • How does decimal rounding of reviews to stars work in ios appstore? Starting from which average review score to get full 5 star rating?
            lcourse
            lcourse
            0
            5
            1.3k

          • Is it possible to get Google to take reviews from Yelp and Avvo and post them on Google?
            Snoogle
            Snoogle
            0
            4
            3.2k

          • How to get star ratings from Google Places to show up for my site in the SERP
            Dr-Pete
            Dr-Pete
            0
            4
            6.1k

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Digital Marketers
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy