Who benefits? Parents? Pupils? The school? Read on. The answer may surprise you.
Earlier this year, for reasons a tad unclear - we cannot believe that one plea from a schoolteacher in the Northwest of England and some of their colleagues moved Google all on its own - Google removed the ability for users to write reviews of schools.The initial reaction from schools and the educational press was positive; after all, who likes to read the kind of reviews schools were receiving as a result of their failure to engage with Google reviews? 'Nonsense written by silly year 9s' was the general consensus.
We were surprised that we were just about the only voice in the wilderness shouting 'But Google reviews, properly mobilised and managed, are one of the most powerful tools there is when it comes to communicating a school's strengths.' Here's the piece we wrote then.
We also warned that schools would live to regret the passing of Google reviews.
So - now, less than six months later - what do we see? Two distinct things...
1. Schools being forced to resort to paid-for Google Ads if they wish to feature consistently in Google local searches...
We know! 'Sponsored' is a strange word to use for 'We are charging this school £X per click to appear at the top of this search,' but that is exactly what this is.
2. The likes of this website fulfilling the need...
The quality of the reviews - if the score is anything to go by - has not improved!
To reiterate our position: Google should allow reviews of schools. If not schools, why doctors or lawyers? Where do you draw the line? Schools have a responsibility to all their stakeholders, especially future parents and pupils, to proactively engage with those stakeholders to ensure their school or college is accurately reflected in those reviews. That way everyone benefits: parents don't have to pay to 'unlock' reviews and schools don't have to pay to rank in Google searches. Everyone benefits, with the possible exception of Google and websites such as the one above, but we're not here to shed a tear on Google's behalf!
Please feel free to comment - below - on this incredibly important subject.
