When Google takes a review down
- Next to the review, select Report, choose the reason and send it.
- Only a review that breaks Google's policies can come down. In Google's words: "Do not report a review just because you disagree with it or dislike it."
- Google says the check "typically takes several days." If the answer is no, you get one appeal, and it can cover up to 10 reviews.
Source: Google Business Profile Help
Google's policy for reviews on Maps rules out, among other things:
- Reviews or ratings that were paid for, in money or in kind.
- Posts on a competitor's listing meant to hurt its reputation.
- Content based on a conflict of interest, such as a current or former employee.
Source: Google Maps user contributed content policy
What you can't do to get rid of one
The FTC's rule on fake reviews and testimonials took effect on October 21, 2024. Two of its bans matter when a review hurts:
- Groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation and certain false public accusations used to get a review removed.
- Offering money or anything else for a review that has to be positive, or has to be negative.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, August 14, 2024
- FTC staff add that buying your way out of an honest bad review is a risk too:
“paying consumers to change or remove truthful negative reviews may violate the FTC Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice”
Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, Questions and Answers
- What the rule allows: contacting the customer to fix what went wrong, and asking happy customers to update their reviews.
Free product for reviews, where each rule draws the line
This is the part that matters for a brand that sends free product to customers and creators. Google's line is stricter than the FTC's.
| Where the review goes | Allowed | Not allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | Asking your customers for a review | Payment, discounts or free goods in exchange for any review, or asking only your happy customers |
| Anywhere, under the FTC rule | A free product or other reward for an honest review | A reward that depends, outright or implied, on the review being positive or negative |
- So never tie a free product to a Google review, even an honest one.
- A creator you pay sits outside both. FTC staff say a hired influencer's post touting a product "would be considered a celebrity testimonial", and the post still has to say it was paid.
How to answer a bad review
- Google says the reviewer is notified when you reply, the reply shows in public under the review, and the customer can still change the review after reading it.
Source: Google Business Profile Help
- So the reply has two readers: the customer, and everyone who reads the review after them.
- Crisis adviser Molly McPherson's rule for a public statement works at the size of one review:
“Simple, own it, explain it, promise it.”
her video on Callaway and Good Good, August 2026
- Own it: say what went wrong for this customer, in plain words.
- Explain it: what happened, in a line or two.
- Promise it: what you've changed, or what you'll do for them now.
- Read your reviews along with the rest of what to watch every week.
- When the bad review is a creator's video, it's a different job. Start with a direct talk with the creator.