Google review removalpolicies
Nine Google policies. Every case names one.
Google publishes the rules for what a review may contain. A removal case is the argument that one review breaks one of them. These are the policies we file under.
- Google’s own published policies
- One policy named on every case
- The words that meet it, quoted
Read one
What meeting a policy looks like.
Pick a policy and see the kind of sentence that meets it. The reviews were written for this page. None is taken from a client.
T. B.
1 review
Worked the front desk here for a year. Management plays favourites. Do not give them your business.
- Policy
- Conflict of interest
- What meets it
- The writer describes a job, not a purchase.
- Finding
- Filed as a removal case
The full list
All nine, with the sentence that gives each away.
The highlighted words are the part of the review a case would quote.
- CL-01
Fake engagement
The writer says they were never a customer.
I have not hired them myself. A friend told me to leave this, so here it is.
- CL-02
Conflict of interest
The writer describes a job, not a purchase.
Worked the front desk here for a year. Management plays favourites. Do not give them your business.
- CL-03
Impersonation
The writer claims to speak for a body they do not represent.
Posting on behalf of the city health department. This kitchen failed its inspection.
- CL-04
Misinformation
A checkable health claim, set against the records.
This clinic gives children expired vaccines. Everyone needs to know.
- CL-05
Off topic
The complaint is about something the business does not run.
Roadworks on this street have gone on for months and the council does nothing about it.
- CL-06
Advertising and solicitation
An offer and a phone number for someone else.
Overpriced. We do the same repairs for half the money. Call 555 0142.
- CL-07
Harassment
A threat aimed at a named person.
The manager, Dana, is a waste of space. I know where she parks her car.
- CL-08
Hate speech
A verdict delivered through a slur.
Would not go back. The place is run by [slur] and it shows.
- CL-09
Personal information
A private address, published without consent.
The owner lives at [street address]. Go and ask him yourself why he will not refund me.
When no policy is met
No rule broken. We say so on the audit.
A real visit and a harsh opinion is allowed by Google. We mark that review, tell you, and leave it. It is not filed and it carries no fee.
Booked for two o’clock, seen well after. Nobody apologised. I will not be coming back.
No rule broken
About the policies
Four things people ask.
Who decides whether a review is removed?
Google. We build and file the case. We have no special relationship with Google.
Is this within Google’s rules?
Yes. Each case cites a policy Google published and goes through Google’s own channel. No fake flags and no second accounts.
Can you remove a review from a real customer?
Only if it breaks a policy. A real visit and a harsh opinion is marked No rule broken. It is not filed and there is no fee.
How is the fee set?
Each review is placed in one of five classes, $300 to $400, by a fixed rubric. The same review always gets the same class, and you see it before anything is filed.
Find out which of your reviews have a case.
Send the listing. You get a sheet for each low review, with the policy and the fee, before anything is filed.
- Opening a case is not billed
- $300 to $400 per removed review
- $0 if Google keeps it