As I noted in my story yesterday about Google reviews dropping out, Google has updated the Google Business Profiles review policies, the Prohibited & restricted content section.
I was hoping to provide the exact details of what changed but the archive I have of it is not working. In any event, Hiroko Imai summed up the changes on LinkedIn and Hiroko said these updated sections cause his attention the most - but there are probably more:
(1) "Content exhibiting unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions that are indicative of efforts to manipulate a place’s rating."
(2) "We do not allow merchants to:
Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services - in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review.
Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers
When soliciting reviews, merchants should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises, nor should they request that specific content be included."
I really wish I had the full list of changes to share with you but either way, it is always good to scan through these documents every now and then to make sure you are up-to-date on these expectations.
