Reviews – especially Google reviews – and ESPECIALLY 5-star Google reviews – are like gold for car dealerships and other businesses.
That being the case, you’re probably watching your review total like a hawk. Hitting a threshold of 10, 25, 50, 100, etc reviews is a big deal – and might even invoke an internal party or celebration at the dealership.
So when you notice that a few Google reviews seemed to have disappeared, it can be more than a little concerning. But rest assured, you are not alone. There is a multitude of reasons that your Google reviews may have disappeared.
Why Are My Dealership Google Reviews Disappearing?
- The Reviewer Has Very Few or No Other Reviews. Google is continually fighting the good fight when it comes to the legitimacy of reviews. For that reason, reviews often get removed, right or wrong. If someone has very few reviews on their profile and leaves a review on your page, it may be removed as suspicious.
- Too Many Reviews Hit Your Page at Once. If you are soliciting reviews and many are posted on the same day after a review drought, they may be removed as suspicious. Google is looking for a natural flow of reviews on the page.
- The Reviewer Took Down the Review or Deleted That Profile. The cause of a review being taken down might not be in Google’s hands at all. Sometimes, an individual chooses to take down a review, or delete the profile associated with the review, which causes it to go away.
- The Review Was Written While on Your IP. Google practically owns search. So it is very aware of where you are when doing certain actions. If a review comes in that is done on your IP, it may be removed as spam. If you are having people do reviews in-store, this could be an issue.
- The Review Wasn’t Appropriate or Off Topic. Even if a review is initially allowed to be put on your profile, it may be later reviewed or flagged by an individual as inappropriate. If the review is off-topic from reviewing your business, it could also be dropped.
- The Reviewer Left a Review on Behalf of Someone Else. Sometimes, people leave reviews on behalf of another person who received the service at your business. This is against policy and is grounds for removal.
- Google Glitched. It’s entirely possible that Google just messed up, and the review never posted or disappeared.
What Do I Do if Google Removed Good Reviews?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many good options for getting a review reinstated if you believe that it was removed incorrectly. If the review was flagged due to one of the many possible policy violations, it won’t be able to be reinstated.
If a review was incorrectly removed, the only good way to get it back is to submit a support ticket to Google Business Profile. Unfortunately, this is no guarantee of getting it back, and often takes a lot of time to even get a response.
The best time that you can spend when Google removes a quality review is working to get new reviews. Phantom Copy offers Google Business Profile optimization services that help you generate more quality reviews, including our review tool. Get in touch here for more information.