by Doren Aldana
What Every Local Business Needs to Know About Google’s New Guidelines That Prohibit Review Gating
As of April 12, 2018, if you have a Google My Business account, you are no longer allowed to do what’s called “review gating”, which essentially screens out negative reviews (3 stars or below) before asking a customer to leave a review.
Here’s how Google puts it:
“Don’t discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”
Do you use Review Gating as part of your Reputation Management strategy?
If your business actively quarantines negative reviews as private feedback while asking positive reviewers to submit their review on Google, then you are review gating and violating Google’s new review guidelines.
Businesses who use the Testimonial Engine to manage, monitor, and market their online reviews don’t have to worry, because we give an option that keeps your reviews in compliance with Google’s New Review Guidelines.
How Does this change to Google’s Guidelines Affect You and Your Business?
Historically, the penalty for violating Google’s review guidelines is the removal of reviews collected while violating the policy. For example, if you were reported and Google discovered you were paying for reviews, they would remove all your reviews received from the date they suspected the unethical incentives started as such incentives violate the review guidelines.
Assess your current review-gathering process and make sure you aren’t sending your best, five-star reviews to Google. Here’s an example of review gating:
You send a message to a customer that asks if their experience was positive or negative.
If they say it was positive, the customer is directed to leave a review online.
If they say it was negative, they are given an internal feedback form without asking them to leave a review online.
Google views this type of review funnel as a way to artificially inflate a positive online presence that is not a true representation of the business’ customer experience.
So, what do you do if your process could be seen as review gating?
Whether you personally reach out to customers or you are using automated software, check the message you are sending to customers. Ensure that all customers are given options to leave reviews and/or give feedback regardless of their pre-selected experience.
Why Google Prohibits Review Gating
Google’s business philosophy is to give search users information they need and trust so they always come back to use Google. Customer reviews are the currency in a trust economy that influences where people spend their time and money.
To remain THE one-stop-shop for all things internet search related, Google needs to attract, satisfy and retain its users. Google needs search users to trust the reviews that are posted on Google platforms to accomplish this. To remain a trusted source of reviews and search results, it behooves Google to prevent review gating that over-inflates the number of good reviews while suppressing the number of bad reviews.
There are a lot of players in the online review game – customers, future customers, businesses, marketers, review sites, review management software, search engines and advertisers. No matter your position or perspective, the guidelines are set to maintain the high level of influence reviews have on consumer actions (which is great for everyone) by protecting the trust that consumers in the authenticity of online reviews.
Committed to Maintaining Trust in Reviews
As you know, positive online reviews are vital to the success of your business, now and in the future. Following Google’s new guidelines keeps the reviews you earned where they can be seen, so your online reputation is marketing your business 24/7. Don’t let a violation remove all the hard work you’ve put into earning the reviews you have posted online.
We support Google’s guidelines for prioritizing trust in reviews and protecting the authenticity of their reviews. Part of trusting the Testimonial Engine to manage your reputation, is knowing that we stay up-to-date with the latest developments on how to best gather, post, and market your business reviews. Automating your online review management helps you stay in compliance with the review sites, like Google, that matter most to your business.
Here’s a quick video overview, explaining the review gating process and how to turn it off in the Testimonial Engine dashboard…
