Google was smart enough with basic account monitoring and caught many of the SEO tactics used, like posting fake, paid, or incentivized reviews, but to make things tougher have since added artificial technology to their systems. This technology allows Google to find and revoke anything deemed inorganic by their guidelines much faster and with little-to-no regard for the situation. This should be a good thing for businesses that fall under the organically reviewed category, but somehow Google often finds an issue with something along the way.
IP Address
Google uses the IP address used to post for verification that an actual customer left the review. Posting multiple reviews from the same IP address may be a red flag for Google, and might be why the review stars are not showing. Likewise, if the account that is posting a review has never been to that area, as seen with paid reviews, it may be a signal to Google that the rating is fake. Using the IP address that is utilized to manage the account should be avoided as well to avoid Google from thinking that you’re behind it.
Linked accounts
Stay away from posting reviews using accounts that are linked to the business. If you are the owner or manager of the Google My Business account, Google’s AI will probably pick up on the post before it is ever seen. If not, it will probably be flagged shortly.
Paid Reviews
In the past, countless businesses have benefited from paid reviews that boost their rating, SEO, and overall customer traffic, but Google hates fake reviews. The intelligence that has been applied to the search engine is starting to pick up on accounts that post for specific businesses, flagging the review and potentially the account itself.
Influx Of Reviews
It doesn’t matter if every single one of the reviews is valid, if you incentivize reviews and it works too well, you may get flagged. Because Google discourages incentivized reviews, their AI will link the reviews together and revoke some or all of them.
Risks Of Bad Practice
It happens, boundaries are tested, and sometimes we take the loss on a review, but don’t get your account suspended with bad practices. Using paid or incentivized reviews will probably be caught by Google’s AI, and your account will be at risk. Google may start denying small changes to the account, ignoring reviews, and eventually suspend your GMB. This is critical for many businesses, as this may be the primary account and the key to driving traffic.
Summary
Vanishing of truly organic reviews can happen, but it is usually a result of surrounding SEO efforts. Google is keen on strategies that are used to quickly boost rankings and will “call out” anything that it finds suspicious. The likelihood of reviews being returned to your account in 2021? Not very realistic. Google tends to be quick to reject and often sees no reason to investigate further on your behalf. The most efficient solution for banned reviews is to let all of them come naturally, or let Jimmy Huh SEO Agency handle your local SEO.
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