How to get a fake or unfair Google review of your hotel taken down

Google says you can't contact the person who left an inappropriate review, or delete someone else's review yourself. Instead you ask Google to remove it, by reporting it. You can report any review, but Google removes only those that break its policies, and those then no longer show on Maps or Search.

Google also says not to report a review just because you disagree with it or dislike it: it doesn't get involved in disputes between a business and its customers. Its rules allow a review that describes a bad experience respectfully, so an honest complaint about a real stay stays up.

Google lists what it doesn't allow in its policy for what people post on Google Maps, which covers reviews. The parts a hotel meets most are:

• Fake engagement: a review not based on a real experience, one paid for in money or in kind, or several posted from different accounts by one person or at their request. Posting on a competitor's page to harm its reputation is not allowed either.
• Rating manipulation: a review posted in return for something a business offered, an unusual burst of reviews that looks like an effort to move a rating, or a review from someone with a conflict of interest, such as a current or former employee, a contractor, a competitor or a relative.
• Off-topic: anything that isn't about an experience at the place, such as general, political or social commentary, or a personal rant.
• Harassment: a specific threat of harm, doxxing, or content that sexualises a person.
• Hate speech: a call to violence against people, or content that dehumanises or belittles them, for their race, religion, caste, gender, disability or any other protected characteristic.
• Offensive content: attacks on people, deliberate provocation, and unsubstantiated allegations of unethical behaviour or criminal wrongdoing.
• Personal information: someone's personal details posted without their consent, such as a full name or surname, their face in a photo, or financial or medical details.
• Obscenity and profanity: swearing used to offend or to emphasise criticism.
• Advertising and solicitation: a review that promotes something, or carries an email address, a phone number, a social media link or a link to another website.
• Unclear and repetitive content: random characters, or the same review posted more than once, from one account or several.

Google's list also covers impersonation, misinformation, misrepresentation, sexually explicit and adult-themed content, violence and gore, dangerous content, child safety, terrorist content, restricted goods and defacement.

This is OneHorizyn's own guide, written from Google's help pages, and not a Google page. Reporting is done on Google itself: from your Business Profile at business.google.com, signed in to the Google Account that manages it, or from Google Maps, which anyone can use.

From your Business Profile:

1. 1Go to your Business Profile, signed in.
2. 2Select “Read reviews”.
3. 3Next to the review, select “Report”.
4. 4Select the reason, such as “Spam” or “Profanity”.
5. 5Select “Send report”.

From Google Maps on a computer:

1. 1Go to Google Maps and search for your hotel by its name or address, then select it.
2. 2Select “Reviews” and scroll to the review.
3. 3Click the menu beside the review, then “Report review”.
4. 4Complete the form that appears, and click “Submit”.

In the Google Maps app on an Android phone, tap “More” next to the review, then “Report review”, and choose the reason. Google says choosing “Not helpful” there doesn't report the review: it only shows it to fewer people.

Google says it usually takes several days to look at a report. Its Reviews Management Tool, which Google's help page on reporting reviews links to, shows where each of your reports stands, and you can report reviews from it too. The statuses it shows are:

• “Decision pending”: the review is flagged, but Google hasn't looked at it yet.
• “Report reviewed - no policy violation”: Google looked and found nothing against its rules. If you disagree, you can appeal, once.
• “Escalated - check your email for updates”: your appeal has gone further, and Google will email you its final decision.

To appeal:

1. 1Open the Reviews Management Tool, confirm the Google Account that manages your profile, and select your hotel.
2. 2Select “Continue”, then “Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeal options”, then “Continue”.
3. 3At the bottom, select “Appeal eligible reviews”.
4. 4Select the reviews to appeal, up to 10 of them.
5. 5Select “Continue”, then “Submit an appeal”.
6. 6Fill in the form that opens in a new tab, and select “Submit”.

Google emails you the result. A review that breaks its rules is removed, and one that doesn't stays up. If you reported from the Google Maps app, its Reports section shows where each report stands, and Google says you may be able to appeal once if the review isn't removed.

Google's rules are as strict about how a business gets its reviews as about what reviewers write. Under them, don't:

• Offer anything for a review: no payment, discount, free night, meal or upgrade in return for posting a review, or for changing or removing a bad one.
• Ask your staff, your family or anyone else with a link to the hotel to review it. Google counts current or former employment, and family ties, as a conflict of interest.
• Set staff a number of reviews to collect, or ask guests for reviews that say something in particular, such as a staff member's name.
• Ask only your happy guests, or steer unhappy ones away. Google doesn't allow a business to discourage bad reviews or to ask selectively for good ones.
• Press guests to leave a rating or a review while they are still at the hotel.
• Post reviews of a competitor, or have them posted.

When Google finds that a business owner has broken its fake engagement rules, it says it removes those reviews and may also restrict the profile: stop it receiving new reviews for a time, unpublish its existing reviews for a time, or show guests a warning that fake reviews were removed. Google emails the owner when it plans a restriction, and the owner can appeal.

Google describes a scam in which a profile suddenly gets a run of 1-star and 2-star reviews, and then someone demands money, goods or services to remove them. Google's advice:

• Don't deal with them or pay them. Google says paying can encourage more attempts, and is no promise that the reviews come down.
• Don't try to settle it yourself by offering money or services.
• Keep the evidence at once: screenshots of every message, by email, WhatsApp, Telegram or social media, showing the date, the time and who sent it, and a link to each of the reviews.
• Report it on Google's merchant extortion report form, which its help page on extortion scams links to, with the screenshots attached.

Google investigates and tells you the result, though not the details. That form is only for demands for money or favours; report other reviews that break the rules in the usual way.

Reply to it, calmly and in public. The guest is told when you reply, and Google's own tips say a constructive reply that follows up on the complaint shows you care, and may even lead the guest to update their review. Never share the guest's private details or attack them, say honestly what went wrong and what you can and can't do, and ask them to call or write to you if it is complicated (see the guide on replying to Google reviews).

A review you believe is fake can be answered the same way: say plainly, without accusing anyone, that you can't find the stay it describes, and invite the writer to contact you. The next guest reads your reply beside it.

One bad review weighs less among many honest ones, and Google's own tips say a mix of positive and negative reviews often feels more trustworthy. Ask every guest, in the same way, with the link or QR code your Business Profile makes: on a computer, open your profile, select “Read reviews”, then “Get more reviews”, and copy the link or save the QR code. Google suggests putting it on receipts, in thank-you emails and at the end of a chat, printing the QR code to display, and sending it by email or WhatsApp (see the guide on asking guests for reviews).