Let’s face it, running a business is no piece of cake, and every single step you take can either make or break your business and make everything you have worked so hard for, just fall apart in a matter of hours.
One thing that has this level of dangerous power is online reviews, and if you have a Google business account, you know you run the risk of getting some unfavorable reviews – and you know sometimes customers DON’T hold back with their opinion.
And there are haters and competitors who put fake reviews just to hurt your reputation and mess with your map pack rankings.
So if you find yourself in this very unfortunate situation of someone leaving a bad review, or if you’re afraid that this might happen to you in the future, you might have wondered if deleting a Google business account delete reviews.
👉 Unfortunately, the answer is NO, you cannot remove reviews by deleting your Google business account, and this article will explain why it is impossible, and what you can do instead.
Why Won’t Delete GMB Account Delete Reviews?
When you add your business to Google Maps, it’s considered as public information. Google will let you claim it and manage it but it does not belong to your Google Account, it’s public.
⚡Also Read: Can Duplicate Yelp Listings Affect SEO?
Deleting your account will only remove your access to manage the business profile. All the NAP, content, images and reviews will still be visible to anyone.
Only the review author or Google can delete reviews. There is no other way to remove them.
What Can I Do To Remove The Review?
Here are a few ways to tackle this issue:
Talk To The Person Who CAN Take It Down
The only person who can delete your review(s) is the actual customer who placed it. What you can do is privately (via email) reach out to them and ask if they can take your review down.
You can offer assistance to sort out their issues, and apologize to them and see if they are willing to take down the review.
This will be a great way to show them that you care about your business and the satisfaction of your clients.
If you can handle this process WITHOUT losing your cool, they just might remove their review – and if you play your cards right they might even leave a good one!
Report Them To Google
The next best thing you can do is report the review to Google, but this will ONLY work if the review goes against the community guidelines of Google, or if the reviewer’s Google account is brand new and looks super spammy to Google.
If the review contains bad language or offensive statements that go against community guidelines, you can go right ahead and report that review so Google will remove it for you!
And with the level of offense certain customers take with service these days, there is a chance that they have used some kind of bad term or phrase so check carefully.
Certainly not the ethical way of solving the issue, but it might just help you out if you are struggling business-wise.
Leave It As It Is!
CONTROVERSIAL, we know! But this can actually work. Leaving a bad review out in the open can assure the customer base that your business is actually authentic, and has an engagement with people.
⚡Also Read: How to Identify Customer Needs
What you can do at this moment is publicly reply and apologize, offer alternative compensation for the inconvenience, or ask them to forward their details to you privately.
You can turn this into an opportunity to look like the bigger person and show your customer base how you engage with bad reviews as well.
So any customer who sees the review and decides to leave will actually think twice by seeing your reply to the aforementioned review.
Get A Ton Of New Good Reviews
Do you know what makes a bad review lose its appeal? When it’s surrounded by so many good ones!
What you can do is provide an awesome service at your establishment, and kindly ask customers to leave a good review online, which they will most definitely oblige to if you have done your job right.
You can also ask your old customers or even your friends and family.
When you get a lot of good reviews, and the one few bad reviews will lose their impact almost, plus they get buried from the top just like how social fortress SEO buries negative sites about your business from the Google search pages.
It will just add to your business’s authenticity, and give you a chance to learn from your mistakes.
Another Alternative
I wouldn’t recommend this at all, but since you are ok with deleting your Google Account you are probably ok with starting your GMB from scratch right?
You could change the business name on your Google My Business Account, and change the address.
Google will probably ask you for address verification but if you are lucky, you may get phone verification. You can also ask your friends to mark the business on the new address.
After a couple of weeks add your real business again on your real address and start from scratch.
I’ll be honest here, I have never done this before and it’s just out of the box thinking but I know GMB allows you to change names. ONLY try this if your GMB is brand new with nothing important.
Bottom Line
Deleting your bad reviews by deleting your Google account, is NOT the ethical way to go about handling negative feedback.
Other than the fact that it is IMPOSSIBLE to remove reviews by deleting your Google account, it will also remove the chance of learning from your mistakes and from your customers.
So it’s best to use the opportunity to reach out and engage with your customers even more, and be determined to find better Google reviews to counter the negative ones you already have, and hopefully – GROW as a business!
