In today’s digital age, reviews play a huge role in a business’s online reputation and ability to attract new customers. With review sites like Yelp and Google Reviews, consumers have immense power to make or break a business’s success. This has left many business owners wondering – can I delete or remove bad reviews?
The short answer
The short answer is: legally, yes. Business owners can request platforms like Yelp and Google to remove reviews. However, getting them taken down is challenging and not guaranteed. Most review platforms have policies against Deleting reviews, except in special cases like defamation, privacy violations, or fake reviews.
Why reviews matter so much
Before delving into whether owners can remove bad reviews, it helps to understand why reviews carry so much weight for businesses today:
- Reviews influence purchasing decisions. According to BrightLocal, 97% of consumers read online reviews before visiting or purchasing from a business.
- Bad reviews directly hurt revenue. A Harvard study found that a 1-star increase on Yelp leads to a 5-9% increase in restaurant revenue.
- Reviews affect local search rankings. Google and other search engines factor review quantity, quality, and sentiment into local search results.
- There is a negativity bias. Research finds negative reviews have a stronger impact on consumers than positive reviews.
In summary, reviews have a huge effect on consumers and search engines. While a few bad reviews won’t make or break a business, too many negative ratings can drastically hurt its bottom line. This creates a huge incentive for owners to want bad reviews removed.
Review platform policies on deleting reviews
Most major review platforms like Yelp, Google, and Facebook all have policies prohibiting businesses from paying for or incentivizing positive reviews. They also discourage the practice of removing authentic negative reviews just because a business doesn’t like them. For example:
- Yelp – Yelp’s terms state they will remove reviews that violate policies, but not just because a business owner requests it. Their automated recommendation software suppresses some poor reviews, especially outliers.
- Google – Google does not allow businesses to delete or pay to remove accurate reviews. They may remove reviews that violate policies.
- Facebook – Page owners can hide reviews but not delete them. Users can still see hidden reviews.
Some exceptions exist. Yelp and Google provide ways for businesses to flag reviews that:
- Contain hate speech, threats, or harassment
- Come from fake or purchased accounts
- Reveal private information like names, emails, or phone numbers
- Are posted multiple times or don’t reflect an actual customer experience
In other words, while review platforms don’t want business owners deleting authentic negative feedback, they do prohibit truly abusive or fraudulent reviews.
Legal options for removing reviews
While review platforms discourage it, business owners do have some legal recourse to get rid of unwanted reviews:
Defamation lawsuits
If a review contains false statements of fact that harm the business, it may constitute defamation. Potentially defamatory reviews could include accusations of fraud, health code violations, employee misconduct, or other unsubstantiated claims.
A business owner could potentially sue the reviewer for defamation and get a court order to have the review removed. However, this is an expensive and challenging process. Reviews that simply contain opinions like “terrible service” or “gross food” typically don’t qualify as defamation.
Copyright complaints
Businesses can file Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices if a review uses their copyrighted photos or other content without permission. The platform will remove the review pending its investigation.
Reporting privacy violations
If a negative review reveals private personal information, businesses can report it to the website for a privacy violation. This includes information like names, phone numbers, email addresses, and any confidential business information.
Court injunctions
In rare cases, businesses have sought court injunctions to force Yelp to remove defamatory or privacy-violating content. However, courts have typically sided with review platforms in keeping content up.
Alternative strategies
Rather than fixating on removing the inevitable bad review, businesses are better served improving their underlying service quality and online reputation. Some positive strategies include:
- Monitoring review sites and responding professionally to negative feedback
- Encouraging satisfied customers to post reviews to drown out negative ones
- Offering incetives for positive reviews like discounts or giveaways
- Running social media ad campaigns promoting the business’s best qualities
- Consistently providing good customer service and assessing opportunities for improvement
While bad reviews can’t always be deleted, taking proactive measures typically proves more effective in the long-run.
Can individuals request removal of their own reviews?
For individuals who regret posting a negative review, the situation differs somewhat from businesses:
- Users can delete reviews they posted on Google, Facebook, and other sites.
- On Yelp, users can hide their own reviews from their public profile but cannot fully delete them.
- If a user flags their Yelp review for removal, Yelp will determine if there are any conflicts of interest before granting the request.
So individuals do have more leeway to remove or hide their own reviews compared to businesses. That said, deleted reviews may still influence algorithms or remain on backups internally.
The ethical dilemma
The question of deleting online reviews also raises an ethical dilemma:
- On one hand, businesses argue they have a right to control their reputations and not be defined by every angry customer.
- On the flip side, removing authentic negative reviews erodes transparency for consumers trying to make informed decisions.
Both sides have valid concerns, which platforms like Yelp must try balancing. The reputation management company NetReputation argues that businesses face a burden of proof to show why a review is truly illegitimate and warrants removal.
Conclusion
In summary, while online reviews carry immense power, business owners have limited recourse to remove negative ones. Review platforms discourage the practice of deleting honest negative feedback just because a business requests it. That said, legal options like defamation lawsuits exist, and owners can report truly abusive or fraudulent content.
Rather than fixating on removal, though, most experts recommend improving service quality, encouraging more positive reviews, and responding professionally. While bad reviews can’t always be erased, taking a proactive approach to reputation management proves far more effective in the long run.
| Review Platform | Policy on Business Owners Removing Reviews |
|---|---|
| Yelp | Discourages removing authentic negative reviews just because a business requests it. Provides a process for reporting truly abusive, defamatory, or fraudulent reviews. |
| Does not allow businesses to delete or pay to remove accurate negative reviews. Allows reporting reviews that violate policies. | |
| Page owners can hide but not delete reviews. Users can still see hidden reviews. |
Legal Options for Removing Reviews
- Defamation lawsuits (for false factual statements)
- DMCA copyright complaints
- Reporting privacy violations
- Court injunctions (rarely granted for reviews)
Alternative Strategies to Removing Reviews
- Monitoring and professionally responding to feedback
- Encouraging more positive reviews
- Offering incentives for positive reviews
- Running social media ad campaigns
- Improving customer service
In conclusion, while online reviews carry immense power, business owners have limited options when it comes to removing negative ones. Review platforms discourage deleting honest feedback simply because it’s negative. That said, legal options exist, and taking a proactive approach to reputation management ultimately proves more constructive.