Report policy-violating reviews on your Business Profile

If you find an inappropriate or policy-violating review on your Business Profile, you can report the review. Google will only remove reviews that violate Google policies.

Important: Before you ask to remove or delete a review, read our reviews policy.

Report reviews

Understand which reviews to report for removal

  • Only report reviews that violate Google policies. Learn more about Google's content policies.
  • Don't report a review just because you disagree with it or don't like it.
    • Google doesn't get involved when businesses and customers disagree about facts.
    • There's no reliable way to tell who's right about a particular customer experience.
  • You can't report third-party hotel reviews. To flag an inappropriate third-party review, contact the third-party provider directly. To go to the third-party website, click the reviewer's name. Soon after the provider removes or changes the review on their website, the update will show on your Business Profile.

Tip: Be patient. It can take several days to assess a review.

How to use the flag review tool in Google to remove negative reviews

How to ask for review removal

To report an inappropriate review for removal, you can use Google Maps or Google Search. Removed reviews stop showing on both.

Flag a review or user in Google Maps

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Maps app Maps.
  2. To open your Business Profile, at the bottom right, tap Business.
  3. Tap Reviews.
  4. Find the review you'd like to report.
    • To flag a review: Tap More More and then Report review.
    • To flag a user: Tap the name of the user, then tap More More and then Report profile.
Tip: Individuals and businesses can report abusive users from the Google Maps app. After a user's activity and contributions (like reviews, photos, or edits) are reported, they'll be reviewed. Learn more about contributor profiles.

Flag a review in Google Search

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, go to Google.
  2. Find your Business Profile.
  3. Tap Read Reviews.
  4. Find the review you'd like to report.
  5. Tap Info Info icon.
  6. Select the type of violation you want to report.

Flag a review in the Reviews Management Tool

  1. Go to the Reviews Management Tool.
    • Tip: To access the Reviews Management Tool on Search, click Read reviews and then More More and then Manage reported reviews.
  2. Check that the email address shown is the one you use to manage your Business Profile.
    • Tip: If you use another email address, click Switch account.
  3. Click Confirm.
  4. Select your business.
  5. Click Report a new review.
  6. For each review that you want to flag, click Report.
  7. In the new tab, select a category for the review.
  8. Click Submit.

Check the status of a flagged review in the Reviews Management Tool

  1. Go to the Reviews Management Tool.
    • Tip: To access the Reviews Management Tool on Search, click Read reviews and then More More and then Manage reported reviews.
  2. Check that the email address shown is the one you use to manage your Business Profile.
    • Tip: If you use another email address, click Switch account.
  3. Click Confirm.
  4. Select your business and then Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeals options.
  5. Possible statuses are:
    • Decision pending: The review is flagged but it hasn't been checked yet.
    • Report reviewed – no policy violation: The review was checked and no policy violation was found.
      • Tip: You can appeal this decision once. Learn how to submit a one-time appeal of a review below.
    • Escalated - check your email for updates: An appeal has been escalated and the final decision will be sent to your email.

Submit a one-time appeal of a review

If you flag a review but the verdict says that it doesn’t violate Google Policies, you can submit a one-time appeal. Learn about what kind of content is restricted.

  1. Go to the Reviews Management Tool.
    • Tip: To access the Reviews Management Tool on Search, click Read reviews and then More More and then Manage reported reviews.
  2. Check that the email address shown is the one you use to manage your Business Profile.
    • Tip: If you use another email address, click Switch account.
  3. Click Confirm.
  4. Select your business and then Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeals options.
  5. At the bottom of the page, select Appeal eligible reviews and then the reviews you want to appeal.
    • Tip: You can select up to 10 reviews.
  6. Click Continue and then Submit an appeal.
  7. In the new tab, fill out the form and submit.
  8. You'll receive an email with the verdict about your appeal.
    • If the review is found to violate our policy, it'll be removed.
    • If not, the review remains live and its status remains “Escalated - check your email for updates” in the Reviews Management Tool.

Understand reviews removed by spam detection

Google uses automated spam detection measures to remove reviews that are probably spam. These measures are designed to help improve people's experiences on Google and display reviews that are authentic, relevant, and useful. Some legitimate reviews may be inadvertently removed.

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