Online reviews play a crucial role in shaping the perception of a business. Given this reality, some businesses turn to questionable practices—like review gating—to improve their online image. However, hiding negative reviews is not only unethical, it can also be illegal and harmful in the long run.
What methods are used to prevent negative reviews from being published?
Review filtering refers to the practice of hiding or removing negative reviews to create a more favorable public image. This can be done in several ways, including:
- Direct removal: Deleting negative reviews from platforms like Google Maps through companies that offer these services. (A quick Google search is all it takes to find them…)
- Review gating: Preventing negative reviews from being published on Google. Typically done through an intermediary platform using a form, negative feedback is redirected to an email inbox to “solve the issue,” while the user is later prompted to leave a positive review on Google. Where to begin… A customer who’s had a bad experience will go straight to Google to leave a negative review, whereas a satisfied user is unlikely to leave two reviews.
- Rating manipulation: Encouraging only positive reviews by asking customers to delete their negative ones, offering incentives in exchange for good reviews, or applying pressure in other ways.
Why Is review gating illegal?
While hiding negative reviews may seem like a quick fix to protect your business’s reputation, this practice can have serious consequences. Here’s why:
- Consumer deception: Consumer protection laws in many countries prohibit deceptive business practices. Hiding negative reviews can be interpreted as misleading consumers by presenting a distorted view of your product or service quality. Regulatory agencies, like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States, have already taken action against companies engaging in such tactics to avoid unfair advantage. And we’re already seeing Google stepping up its efforts to ensure transparency on its platform.
- Violation of terms of service: Most review platforms have strict policies against review manipulation. Filtering or hiding reviews can result in penalties, including having your business profile removed from the platform.
- Reverse defamation lawsuits: In some cases, consumers whose reviews are deleted may take legal action, claiming reverse defamation or misrepresentation. This can lead to costly lawsuits and further damage to the business’s reputation.
Moreover, review filtering comes with serious ethical and reputational consequences in the long term. The loss of customer trust, false sense of business success, and the problem remaining unsolved (since users eventually publish the negative review on Google anyway) are some of the most important to consider.
What is the good path to handle negative reviews ethically
Instead of resorting to review gating, businesses should adopt more ethical and effective strategies to manage their online reputation:
- Respond quickly: Replying to negative reviews in a timely and professional manner shows customers that you care about their feedback and are willing to improve. Potential customers understand that mistakes happen—what matters is how you handle them.
- Offer real solutions: Rather than deleting reviews, focus on solving the underlying issues that led to customer dissatisfaction. Not only can this turn a negative experience into a positive one, but it also shows a genuine commitment to service excellence.
- Encourage positive reviews: Motivate happy customers to leave reviews to balance out the negative ones. Just make sure the reviews are authentic and not incentivized inappropriately. A simple, “We’d really appreciate it if you left us an honest review on Google,” can double your review count from one month to the next.
- Use tools that give you real control: Platforms like Localboss help businesses manage reviews without tricks—using data. They also offer AI-powered tools and reply templates to speed up responses and monitor your online reputation without resorting to shady tactics.
In conclusion, review gating can do more harm than good to your business! It can cause customers to lose trust in you, lead to lower overall ratings in most cases, and even result in penalties from Google by violating their policies.
