Google allows you to flag material you think is inappropriate,
which will then be reviewed
and removed if deemed necessary.
Facebook follows a similar practice of reporting as Google; they
explain inappropriate content
that should be flagged in the
Facebook Community Standards.
Google’s removes reviews if it is:
»» Advertising
»» Spam
»» Contains phone numbers or
URLs
»» Off-topic
»» Contains offensive language
»» Poses a conflict of interest
»» Contains illegal content
»» Has copyrighted content in it
»» Sexually explicit material
»» Involves impersonation
»» Contains confidential
content
»» Hate speech
Facebook will remove posts that
contain:
»» Violence or make threats
»» Self-harming information
»» Bullying and harassment
»» Hate speech
»» Graphic content
»» Sexually explicit content
»» Private content
»» Spam
»» Compromises security
If a review falls under into any of
these categories, you can flag it
and it will be checked out. Remember, the review needs to violate
one of the offenses listed above
and a low rating or no explanation
for the rating is not a disqualifier.
To report a review to be removed
on Facebook, follow these steps:
1. Go to the review and click in
the top right
2. Click I don’t like this review
3. Click Report and follow the onscreen instructions
Just like Google, Facebook will
look into the post and determine
if it should be removed based on
the Community Standards.
Whether you plan to keep or dispute
a negative review, your main priority
should be to boost the trust of your customers. Remember, positive reviews can
make them trust you, but the presence
of negative reviews doesn’t always mean
that they will trust you less.
Yelp is a bit trickier to maneuver. Unlike Google and
Facebook, they don’t tell you
outright what qualifies a review for removal, but instead
lay out what content it should
not contain:
»» Threats, harassment,
lewdness, hate speech and
other displays of bigotry
»» Conflict of interests
»» Promotional content
»» Irrelevance
»» Privacy concerns
»» Intellectual property
When it comes to reporting
content that does not follow
Yelp’s guide lines, things get
more complicated. Depending on what guideline was
not followed changes how
it should be reported. More
often than not, you can simply flag the post and follow
up with a short explanation
about why you flagged it.
It may be better to simply respond to
negative reviews in a proactive way than
try to remove them. When you show to
your customers that you value them by
making every effort to give them a positive experience, then even bad reviews
can be used to your advantage.