A Google review mentions your name. Here is when Google takes it down

Google’s contribution policy lists personal information among the content it removes. It defines that as information about a living, identifiable person, and it names a full name or a last name posted without consent as an example. The same section also covers a person’s face in a photo, and financial, medical or identification details.

The policy also lists names it allows. These are the ones that will stay up:

• A person’s name that is part of the business name, such as an owner whose shop carries their name
• Public facing professionals who do business under their own name, such as doctors, lawyers, realtors, financial planners and contractors
• Executives whose names and link to the business are already public, such as a chief executive

The policy names a full name and a last name. A first name on its own is not in that list, so a review that says “Mike at the counter was rude” is a weak case under personal information. A review that says “Mike Ferraro at the counter” is a strong one, because the surname makes the person identifiable to anyone who searches.

Context matters too. A first name plus a detail that points to one person, such as a home street, a car or a family member, can make the review about a private individual. Those details often bring in a second clause, harassment, when the writer pairs them with a threat.

• A staff member who does not trade under their own name: personal information, if the full name or last name is used
• A customer, a neighbor or a relative of the owner: personal information, and often harassment if the review attacks them
• The owner, when the business carries the owner’s name: allowed by the policy, so the case has to rest on something else in the review
• A doctor, lawyer or other professional who practices under their own name: allowed, unless the review adds private details such as a home address
• A former partner or family member writing about the owner’s private life: often off topic as well, because it is not about the business

1. 01

   Open the review

   Go to your Business Profile and select Read reviews. Find the review that carries the name.

2. 02

   Report it

   Select the Report icon next to the review, choose the reason closest to personal information, and submit.

3. 03

   Or use the Reviews Management Tool

   Confirm the account that manages your profile, select your business, choose Report a new review for removal, then select Report next to the review.

4. 04

   Check the result

   Return to the same tool and choose to check the status of a review you reported. If it reads Report reviewed, no policy violation, you can submit a one time appeal.

• A screenshot of the review that shows the reviewer’s display name, the date and the full text
• The direct link to the review, copied from Google Maps
• A short written note from the named person saying they did not agree to be named in public
• Proof the person does not trade under that name, such as a staff list showing their role
• Any other review by the same account that names the same person

Each review gets its own case sheet. It quotes the review as posted, cites the personal information clause, marks the exact words that carry the name, and lists the supporting record. If the same review also threatens the person, the sheet cites harassment too, with those words marked separately.

The sheet shows the fee class before anything is filed. The fee is per removed review, set by a fixed class, and billed only once the review is gone from your live listing. If Google declines, the case is filed a second time at the same fee.

Reply once, briefly, and leave the name out. Repeating it in your reply puts it on the page a second time, in your words. Something like: “We take every concern seriously and would like to talk this through. Please call the front desk and ask for the manager.” Then stop. A longer exchange gives the writer more to quote.