Reporting a Google review, and the three answers you can get
Google gives owners two ways to report a review and a tool that shows what happened to the report. Most of the frustration around this comes from not knowing the second one exists, and from expecting an outcome Google has said in writing that it will not give.
No credit card required. 30-day free trial.
How reporting works before you file anything
Four things worth knowing first, because two of them change whether filing is worth the twenty minutes.
There are two routes: the Report icon next to a review, and the separate Reviews Management Tool.
The tool is the one that tells you what happened afterwards, so start there if you care about the outcome rather than about being finished.
Only content that violates Google's policies is removed.
The reason field is not a form of persuasion. Either the review breaks a rule you can name, or the report is going to be declined.
Google says it does not get involved in conflict between businesses and customers, and that disagreeing with a review is not grounds for removal.
The single most common reason for reporting a review is the single most explicitly excluded one.
A declined report can be appealed once, and up to ten reviews can be selected in one appeal.
One appeal, so save it. Batch the genuinely policy-breaking ones rather than spending the appeal on the review that annoyed you most.
Filing a report and following it to an answer
Six steps, and the last two are the ones most owners never reach because nothing tells them the tool exists.
Name the policy before you open anything
Write down which rule the review breaks in one sentence. If you cannot, the report will be declined and you will have spent your appeal finding that out.
Report from the profile, or from the tool
From the profile: open Read reviews, use the Report icon next to the review, pick a reason and send. The tool is the alternative and the better one.
Use the Reviews Management Tool for anything you care about
Confirm your email or switch accounts, select the business, choose to report a new review for removal, pick the review, give the reason and submit.
Read the status rather than waiting for an email
The tool reports one of three: decision pending, report reviewed with no policy violation found, or escalated with an email to follow.
Appeal once, and batch it
A declined report allows a single appeal, and up to ten reviews can go in together. Use it on the ones where you can name the violated policy.
When it stays up, write the reply instead
A public reply outlives the argument and is read by everybody who reads the review. It is the only remedy that is entirely within your control.
What Google removes, and what it leaves alone
What Google says it removes
- Content flagged as violating its policies, including spam and profanity.
- Reviews that a report demonstrates break a specific published rule rather than a preference.
- Once removed, the review no longer shows on Maps or in Search.
What Google says it will not remove
- A negative review that breaks no policy, however unfair it feels.
- Anything that amounts to a disagreement between the business and the customer, which Google says it does not get involved in.
- A review you suspect is fake but cannot tie to a named policy breach.
What GetSetReply does, and what it cannot do here
GetSetReply does not remove Google reviews, and it never will. The only route Google publishes is the policy report described above, it is decided by Google, and you can file it yourself in a few minutes.
- We do not file reports on your behalf, and we do not offer a removal service at any price.
- What we do is draft the reply, which is the remedy that works whether or not the report succeeds.
- Nothing is published on your behalf, and nothing is taken down on your behalf either.
Two pages to read alongside
One is how the Google connection works. The other is the wording for the review type most people are trying to report.
Google is one of the places we watch
Every platform below lands in the same queue, so a Google review and a review from anywhere else are read, drafted and answered in one place.
- Yelp
- TripAdvisor
- DoorDash
- Trustpilot
- Etsy
- Square
Reporting a Google review, answered
Answers from Google's own removal documentation, cited with a date below.
How do I report a Google review for removal?
Either use the Report icon next to the review after opening Read reviews on your profile, or use the Reviews Management Tool, which lets you select the business, report a new review for removal and give a reason.
How do I find out what happened to my report?
The Reviews Management Tool shows one of three statuses: decision pending, report reviewed with no policy violation found, or escalated with an email to follow.
Can I appeal a declined report?
Once. A declined report allows a single appeal, and up to ten reviews can be selected in one go, so it is worth batching them.
Will Google remove a review just because it is unfair?
No. Google says it does not get involved in conflict between businesses and customers, and that disagreement with a review is not grounds for removal.
Can GetSetReply get a review removed?
No, and neither can anybody else selling that. We draft the reply, which is the part you actually control.
Where the Google removal facts came from
Google's own page on removing reviews from a Business Profile, read on the date shown.
When it stays up
The reply is the remedy
Connect the profile and the review you could not get removed arrives with a considered answer already drafted.