Compliance matters: Don't play 'games' with Google reviews

This article has been prompted by our ever burgeoning file of the tricks some businesses resort to when trying to game their images in Google reviews. We have anonymised the screenshots that follow to protect the guilty, but please bear in mind that if we have such a file of wrongdoers you can be sure that the regulators do as well.

Bribery

 And...

Apart from contravening Google's own T&Cs and the UK Competition & Markets Authority's regulations, what was the business thinking? Did they really believe that no-one would ever reference their Amazon vouchers? And did no-one think "This could really damage our credibility when our competitors understand what we have done to get our reviews"?

Cherry-picking

Again: in contravention of the CMAs regulations, which clearly and unequivocally state that any business that invites reviews must allow all its customers to write a review at a time of their own choosing. Why do some businesses persist in telegraphing the fact that they only invite 'happy' customers to post reviews by scoring 5.0 out of five, but with low absolute numbers of reviews, usually written over a protracted period, but sometimes all at once (see the example under 'Advanced cherry-picking' below)?

Advanced cherry-picking

A good (not great) score. And a significant number of reviews. But mine down into the pattern of the reviews themselves and what do we see? Eight out of only nine reviews written in the last twelve months score 1* and two years ago the business had less than thirty Google reviews, acquired over the previous five years, averaging just over 3.0. Over 140 reviews were written in a six week period in 2016. Questionable? surely. Obvious? Definitely.

This is a 'clever' one; it involves inviting customers to write a review to an independent reviews site that, by definition, will have far less visibility in search than Google and then inviting only those customers that have posted a five star review to that site to copy it across to Google. It can be done all at once (as we have strong suspicions in the case of the example above) or as a matter of ongoing policy.

Contracted-out cherry-picking

This one involves contracting someone else to do your dirty work; it sounds so plausible: 'We'll conduct a customer survey for you, then, when the customer has told us they think you are great (or words to that effect) we will invite them to post a review to Google (or any other reviews site of your choice). Another dark side of a pretty dark art: reputation management. This article was written five years ago, it is surprising just how current its main themes still are. And the central one? If you need reputation management your business needs to look at itself and make some pretty fundamental changes to its CRM before adopting review management.

Why do businesses do this?

Often it's out of sheer laziness, or management ignorance of the CMA regulations, but whatever the reasoning that leads to using such a broken strategy (we repeat: do the businesses involved think their competitors will never notice?) it leaves a highly visible paper trail for the regulators to follow (how much more visible than a pattern of Google reviews could a paper trail be?).

But most of all we think it's about fear. The reason online retailers have adopted reviews with such alacrity but their fellows in service businesses have done the opposite is the recognition that whereas we all expect to see shoes and shirts scoring 4 out of 5 on a shopping site (and will then go on to buy those shoes and shirts) a single well-written negative Google review of a service business has the capacity to deflect significant business, even to stop the phone ringing altogether (if you have any doubts about this, please read this story, which made the national press).

There's no need!

This is the crazy thing: if you are actually run a customer focused-business you can adopt a proper professional review management strategy that will get you the results you deserve whist addressing the 'fear factor'.

And that strategy has a name? HelpHound, of course. 


Further reading:

• it is possible to comply with the CMA regulations and look great on your own website and on Google - see this case history
• the Competition & Markets Authority regulations - and our analysis of their rules
• addressing the 'Fear' factor

Greene & Co - just when you thought a business could not look any better!

One of our main roles at HelpHound is to ensure that our clients are always using reviews to their very best advantage, throughout the course of their membership - and many of you will have followed the evolution of Greene & Co since they joined HelpHound.

Here's a reminder of what a Google search looked like when they joined: 

And here are those three locations today:

Their remaining six that did not feature in a Google search on 'Greene & Co' back then look very similar

Against their competitors?

On their own website?

Remember that many potential customers will by-pass Google - it is important to host independently verified reviews on your own website...

 ...and it is these reviews that Google uses to allocate a star rating and score in organic search, to be seen by everyone searching on your business...

 ...and to deliver 'Reviews from the web' in your Google knowledge panel - linking straight to your website...

Compliant

 Every Greene & Co branch has this button on their website - ensuring anyone can write a review at any time

And all this achieved in compliance with the relevant regulations (which expressly forbid hand-picking 'happy' customers to write reviews). We estimate that less than one in ten estate agencies currently comply with the CMA regulations - which have the force of law.

Results

Results used to be anecdotal (verbal feedback from clients) - but now new clients can be immediately reassured when they see the uplift in calls and visits to their website because it will be reported to you by Google. Here is Curchod's Google report after they joined last year:

We have used this Curchods Google My Business report as Google only began sending them out last September - too late to prove the uplift for Greene & Co, but great proof for any business joining from now on

 
N.B. Without these results reviews and review management in any form are pure window dressing. We see marketing from the independent reviews sites every day which focuses on everything but results like these. Using an independent reviews site can backfire on the business by making them look worse on Google. For more on this subject read this article.

In summary

  

A typical Greene & Co Google knowledge panel, with a great score and star rating, the rich snippets are all positive with Google highlighting important trigger words; and 508 reviews on their own site just a click away

Greene & Co, by embracing the opportunities presented to them since joining HelpHound...

• look great on Google - great scores and credible numbers of reviews
• look great on their own website - with credible independently verified reviews there
• look great in any search on their business name and location
• look great in any local search
• look great in organic search - with a great star rating and score for every location
• look great in the Google knowledge panel - with great Google reviews, great rich snippets and great 'Reviews from the web'
• look great against their competitors in any search

...all essential if a business is to compete effectively in today's marketplace.

Results - and how to measure them

Until recently you, and we, were reliant on anecdotal evidence - like this...

...and this...

...from the 'front line' to gauge just how well your review management strategy was performing. Now there has been a significant move by Google that helps us both.

They have introduced Google My Business reports. Here's ours (so you can see what their email looks like in your inbox)...

...and here's one for a client of ours that they have kindly agreed for us to publish...

The single most important thing about this report for Curchods is that it has shown - in hard numbers - the uplift in calls and visits since they implemented HelpHound (that's why their marketing director sent us this screenshot).

It will be the same for every business that joins from now on. Measurable results.

More

If you are uncertain as to who in your office is in receipt of this report (as so many businesses often are) just speak to Karen Hutchings here at HelpHound and she will explain how to establish exactly whose inbox it is in.

We are all judged by the company we keep

And so it is in business. Our businesses have always been judged, by competitors and consumers alike, by our professional connections: do we employ reputable accountants and lawyers? Are our web designers well-regarded? You get the gist.

Well, now the same can be said of your reviews solution. We will illustrate this with an anecdote (names and locations will not be disclosed, but all other information is factual).

The story so far...

Back in September we were invited to pitch our review management service to a reasonably substantial multi-location business. As always in these situations we first did our homework (we call this a 'review audit', as every client will know). We take an in-depth look at the business - on its own website(s) and in search. 

In this instance there was much to see. Beginning with Google (after all, the first port-of-call for almost all consumers): few of their locations passed the Google filter (they scored between 1.2 and 3.7 in the main). Then onto the independent reviews sites, where there was an intriguing pattern. They appeared on no less than five separate sites, but that was not what interested us - we were immediately struck by the disparity in scores between the sites - from less than 2.0 out of 5 on three but virtually perfect - way above 4.0 - on the other two.

What was happening? Well, we have been around the block a few times, and we have files bulging with evidence of reviews sites' interesting business models, so we conducted our pre-sale conference call with the business with our eyes (and ears) wide open, and armed with the following questions:

1. Why have you invited HelpHound to pitch?
2. What strategies have you adopted in the past?
3. Why are those not working for you?
4. How do you imagine that HelpHound will be any different?

The answers were, to say the least, interesting...

1.  Because the results HelpHound have produced for your clients are exceptional

2.  We have tried almost every reviews solution and heard that HelpHound are the acknowledged experts

3.  Because we now realise just how important Google is and you are the only one 'blowing the Google trumpet'

4.  You will help us look great everywhere we need to, on Google and on our own website 

So far, so good. Or was it?

 Why would the same business in the same location score so badly on Google and so well on the independent reviews site?

We needed to understand just why there was such a disparity between Google (and one of the independent sites) and the other independent reviews sites. Unfortunately the answer did not bode well for any future relationship, and it went something along these lines...

"We were sold those two solutions on the basis that we could pick and choose which clients to invite to write reviews."

...oh dear. We explained why there would have to be a change of mind-set if they were to come aboard with HelpHound. And at that point we agreed to call it a day.

When will some businesses (and nearly every reviews site) get it? That if reviews are to work for your business, they must be seen to be genuine, not just the individual reviews themselves, but the overarching methodology of the reviews mechanism the business adopts as well. It must not favour the business over the consumer.

Further reading:

• Goodbye Yelp - why would the biggest reviews site on the planet quit the UK?
• Purplebricks and Trustpilot - how one business threatening legal action against a reviews site told us so much about another reviews site
• HelpHound's Resolution™ - taking the 'fear' out of review management for good businesses

How does your business look against its competitors?

It something all businesses should spend just a little more time on - checking how they show in search against their peers.

Let's look at some examples...

In a specific search - your potential customer knows you, or they are responding to some of your marketing or a recommendation form a colleague or friend. They search specifically for your business. Let's look at a client of ours (nameless for the moment)...

...Google helpfully provides five alternative businesses in their knowledge panel. What is to stop that potential client straying (Google don't just put them there for fun, they know a percentage will click on them)? So what can the business in question do?

They can harness the power of their customers' opinions, first by having lots of great reviews and the resulting Google score...

 

...which leads the potential customer straight to the reviews themselves...

...and to the three rich snippets that Google gets from those reviews...

...then they have independently verified reviews on their own website...

 ...that are pulled through to organic search by Google...

...to give them a star rating and score there. Which, taken all together, mean that your potential customer is much less likely to be diverted away.

Now - local search - where the customer knows what type of business they want, but has an open mind as to exactly the business(es) they are going to contact. Here reviews back up the business's showing in the Google Maps 3-pack and in organic search...

 ...again, ensuring the business looks great, with eye-catching scores and stars in both.

Action?

Perform both searches on your business (we recommend our clients do so at least monthly) and see how your business is performing. Keep a record, so you can track improvements.

If you would like to see the actual numbers (in terms of increased visits and calls) when a business that is doing everything else right from an online marketing point-of-view joins HelpHound read this case history.

How HelpHound adds value to 'Do-it-yourself' review management

Any business can invite their customers to post a review to Google, and many do. Here we focus on the value HelpHound adds to that process...


1.  Independently verified reviews on your own site

Just as having reviews on Google increases click-through to your website, reviews on your own website act as a powerful call to action, turning browsers into potential customers. In this example the combination of both increased click-through by 27%.

You don't have to take our word for it; every month Google will send you a report like this, so you will be able to see the direct effect of adopting HelpHound (thank you to Curchods for allowing us to publish this copy of their Google My Business performance statistics).

With independently verified reviews you get the added bonus of stars, score and number of independently verified reviews attached to your organic listing in search and a click-through in the Google knowledge panel (see points 3 and 4 below).


2.  Minimising inaccurate, misleading and fake reviews

At HelpHound, every review goes through Resolution™ - our moderation system - and any that we think may be factually inaccurate or potentially misleading are first served to you so you can engage with the reviewer. This ensures, as far as is possible, that reviews shown are an accurate reflection of your business, benefiting you and your potential customers. 


3.  Showing your own reviews' score in search

The stars and the rating and make you stand out in search and gives consumers an instant impression of your business - proven to increase both calls and click-throughs (website visits increased by 27% for one client - read the story here).  


4.  Showing 'Reviews from the web' in your Google knowledge panel

Consumers have been trained by Google to use the knowledge panel as an instant reference for your business. Reviews are shown there in no less than three separate locations: Google reviews at the top, 'Reviews from the web' - a link to the reviews on your own website - in the middle - and 'rich snippets' - the quotes from your reviews that Google takes to create an impression for its users, at the bottom.


5.  Advice on responding to reviews

Responding to reviews is an important aspect of modern CRM. But so few businesses do so - when asked they often say 'we don't have time' or 'we don't have the confidence' and, more often than you might think, 'we don't know how'. HelpHound supports all our clients with advice, whether that be strategic or specific, right down to the wording of individual responses.


6.  Advice on appealing inaccurate or misleading reviews 

One of the most frequently received calls here at HelpHound is from businesses who have received a review - on Google or any other reviews platform - that they consider to be either:

• fake - written maliciously, perhaps by a competitor or a disgruntled employee, or just someone with an axe to grind
• inaccurate or misleading - it does not accord with their version of events, or makes simple factual errors that might mislead future consumers to the detriment of both those consumers and the business

At HelpHound we reckon we have more experience than any other adviser in this area. We will recommend whatever course of action we believe to be the most effective and prepare a written appeal to the review site in question - including Google.

 
7.  Longevity

Solutions change over time - you only have to look at the profusion of reviews sites that have positioned themselves as the solution for businesses, only to fade away months or years later. Most of your will know of Yelp - the biggest review site on the planet - they invested massively in the UK and signed up thousands of businesses and then abruptly left last year.

Your business needs a solution that your can rely on for the years to come, and that means

• owning your own reviews, not giving them to another business
• adopting a solution that is flexible enough to accommodate changes - changes in the marketplace, changes at Google. Infinitely adaptable to act in your best interests. That's HelpHound.

8. Compliance

The Competitions & Markets Authority (CMA) has yet to fine a business in the UK for contravening its regulations, but mark our words, it is only a matter of time. Anyone who thinks the CMA is reluctant to show its teeth would do well to read this.

And most, if not all, current reviews solutions in the UK contravene one or more of the CMA's core regulations. Read this to see if you recognise any symptoms.

What use is a reviews solution if it results in a headline accusing a business of playing fast-and-loose with government regulations? You need professional advice on reviews and review management almost as much as you need professional legal and financial advice. We are here to provide it.


In summary

There - eight reasons. And we would humbly suggest that any one of them is worth our monthly fee on its own. DIY or HelpHound? Speak to Fiona or Karen and then make an appointment where we will answer any questions about your current strategy - or discuss ways ahead if you have yet to formulate one.



Please feel free to comment on this article - link below - and subscribe - centre right - so you can be sure to receive every article as it is published. If you need more information email fiona.christie@helphound.com.

Examples of businesses misusing reviews

Five years ago reviews in the UK were unregulated; as a result all kinds of questionable practices became commonplace. Now, we are delighted to say, reviews are regulated by the Competition and Markets Authority.

In this article we will highlight some of these practices and we strongly suggest that those yet to join HelpHound use this as a checklist (if you are a HelpHound client you will not need to concern yourself – except, perhaps, to see if a competitor is non-compliant!).


Cherry-picking

Six months ago this business had no reviews on Google, then it had two 1* reviews in succession, now it has thirteen 5* reviews - all written in the last two months. Understandable, but non-compliant with the CMA regulations which state that if you are going to invite customers to write reviews that invitation should be to all your customers

By far-and-away the most common: it’s often because the business has received a negative review and they have suddenly realized they need to engage. So what would any normal business do? It will ask its staff to ask its most reliable customers to post a glowing review. Normal? Yes. Compliant? No.

Giveaways: Few – or no - reviews over a period of years, then a negative, hotly followed by a flurry of positives.

Double-dipping

A ‘clever’ variant of cherry-picking: the business asks all of its customers to write a review to a small independent reviews site – after that they only invite those who have posted a five star review to copy it to Google. Ouch!

Giveaways: an average score on a less well-known site and then a great score on Google, but from fewer reviews.

Mis-describing testimonials as reviews

It is simple: a 'review' must be verified by an external source. If it is not it is a testimonial, and must not be described as a review. We have seen multiple examples of such misleading misdescription - one where the testimonials in question are even being used to hoodwink Google into displaying a star rating in natural search.

Giveaways: If the 'review' is taken from an independent site and displayed on the business's site it will appear twice if pasted into Google search: once on each site; if it does not, it is not a review.
 

Rewarding reviewers

If you do decide to reward customers for posting a review make sure they are rewarded whatever they score or say - good or bad, five star or one star

Rewarding customers for posting a review is frowned on by most review platforms, and against the T&Cs of some. It can also backfire: we recently saw a negative review of a business mentioning the reward that had been offered – not good PR (see below). Rewards can be OK in certain circumstances, but everyone must qualify for the reward, those posting negative reviews included.

Giveaways: reviews mentioning the reward (see screenshot below)

Incentivising reviewers

Besides being against the CMA regulations, incentivising customers to post positive reviews can backfire in other ways

A sub-group of ‘rewarding’ really – how about the business that hosted a party for graduates and then asked their guests to post a review? Unfortunately multiple reviewers used their reviews as an opportunity to thank the business for its hospitality – making clear that they were not bona-fide clients of the business.

Giveaways: mentions in the review – ‘thank you for the Amazon voucher’ or ‘I look forward to receiving my reward’

Using a review site that filters reviews

These are just two of many 'reviews of review sites' on competitor sites, and they both tell the same story: that the reviewer alleges that they could not get their review posted. If this is true, and we have seen more than one example where it would appear to be, using a site like this is a) against the CMA regulations  and b) hands a big win to any business that spots that their competitor is using such a system

It’s very simple – under CMA rules, anyone must be able to post a review at any time – any system - or business using such a system - that prevents that, however well-meaning, is non-compliant. It will also drive unhappy customers to post to a site that does allow them to post as and when they want – and that site? Google, of course.

Giveaways: none – unless you read reviews on competing websites; but reviews-savvy competitors and the CMA will know

Selectively showing external reviews on the business’s own site

More common than you might think – inviting reviews to an external site and then showing only the positive ones on the business’s own site.

Giveaways: a simple cross-check shows this up

Describing testimonials as reviews

Most people will probably recognise these white/green stars by now - but, strangely, the customer comments are not taken from - or verified by - that site. In fact, the business concerned does not describe the comments shown underneath these stars as reviews or testimonials, but what might a visitor to their website reasonably assume?

Again, we see this frequently. A review is, by definition, independently verified by an outside agency, a testimonial is invited and displayed by the business alone and the business has total control over what is displayed.

Giveaways: the ‘reviews’ lack attribution

Conclusion

There are two messages here: the first is that whatever reviews system your business adopts it must be compliant with the CMA regulations (they have the force of law). The second is to use this article as a checklist against which to examine any system you might be tempted to use.

Alternatively you can speak to us. We have no axe to grind other than our clients' best interests - so you can be sure of receiving a reliable answer.

     

Resolution™ - managing inaccurate or potentially misleading reviews

One of the prime concerns we hear from every single potential client is "What can we do about negative reviews?"

And often we sense that the immediate response they would most welcome would be something along the lines of "we have a mechanism that will prevent them being published, either on your own website or anywhere else."

But that's not our response. Our response is guided by two things:

• sensible business practice
• the CMA regulations governing reviews

Let's look at both of these:

Sensible business practice

Just let's suppose, for argument's sake, we did have a system that magically filtered out negative reviews; what would the real-world impact of such a system be? 

We don't have to look far for our answer, as there are plenty of independent review sites that operate systems that favour the business, either by denying the reviewer the right to post a review unless specifically invited or by having a mechanism that allows the business to impose conditions on the publication of negative reviews.

Both these systems have the same medium to long-term effect. They drive dissatisfied customers to post to Google - the one site a business needs to look at its very best on. We see examples all the time. Here is just one...

 The same business - on an independent review site (L) and on Google (R). An increasingly common disconnect, almost always caused by the business inviting 'happy' customers to post to the reviews site, leaving 'unhappy' customers no option but to post to an open site - Google being the obvious choice

Sensible business practice dictates that whatever system a business adopts it must positively welcome all kinds of reviews from everyone and anyone. After all, Google does. 

What happens next is important. At HelpHound we value our own reputation as a force for good in the somewhat murky world of reviews, and to maintain that reputation means treating both sides of the review equation equally - we have to be seen to be fair and credible to both business and consumer, and we need to be seen to be adding value in both directions. That means that the business should be fairly and accurately represented through its reviews and that the consumer should be able to rely on those reviews as an aid to their purchasing decision.

Inaccurate reviews - in this case pricing - help neither business nor consumer

Fake reviews, of any kind, help no-one. Inaccurate or misleading reviews ditto.

HelpHound's Resolution™ to the rescue - for both parties

The full process is detailed in this article. To summarise, Resolution™ is designed to minimise the chances of fake, inaccurate or misleading reviews being published, as none of these benefits anyone.

Here's an example. This review was posted recently:

Under the terms of Resolution™ - understood by both business and their customer - the review is first submitted to the business for comment. In this case there had been misunderstandings between the two parties concerned, as well as miscommunication (there were language issues). Resolution™ allowed for private communication between both parties and, again, as of right, the customer is invited to post a review after that communication (which can be their original review, but seldom is). This is what they did post:

Some might say that it would be helpful for both reviews to be published (and there is nothing to stop the reviewer doing so) but that would be to assume we inhabit a perfect world in which everyone communicates in both directions every time. Far too often a consumer will post an inaccurate or misleading review - often straight to Google - leaving the business nothing to do but post its own response. But that harms the business's reputation unfairly, especially through Google's scoring system - an unfair or misleading 1* review, even responded to by the business, remains to impact the business's score - a shorthand guideline increasingly used by consumers to winnow out a shortlist (and by Google itself through its filter).

The CMA regulations

A full analysis can be found here. Two of the core principles of the CMA regulations (which have the force of law in the UK) are:

• that the reviewer should be able to write a review at any time of their own choosing
• that the business must do nothing to prevent that review being published

At HelpHound our clients incorporate a button like this on their websites so absolutely anyone* may write a review at any time...

And we promise to publish any genuine review. And this means that the reviewer can have an inaccurate or misleading review published. The fact that they seldom do is down to Resolution™.

And one final point: always remember that, whatever review system you employ, your competitors will often attempt to undermine it. If it favours the business at the expense of the consumer, or if it is seen to be non-compliant, that hands a significant weapon to them.


*This surprises some businesses t first, until it is pointed out to them that they often have many more stakeholders than they have customer email addresses: husband/wife/partner/neighbour/employee/potential customer/'friend' of customer/professional advisor of customer and so on...any of whom can write a review of the business to Google at the click of a mouse, and often do - unless they are given a more attractive alternative.