Can I Get in Trouble for Leaving a Bad Review After Gettingfired
I hear complaints from business organisation owners and marketers all the time that the Google My Business guidelines are often cryptic, and I tend to agree. It can be piece of cake to read a guideline and interpret information technology incorrectly.
I take learned that the primal to understanding the guidelines is through fourth dimension and experience. Seeing what Google will and volition non act on tin can provide insight into what things they really care most, and this can help you lot read between the lines.
Until recently, I had always assumed that reviews from former employees were considered to be in violation of Google My Business guidelines. This was based on the post-obit two passages from their review policies page:
- "Make sure that the reviews on your business listing, or those that you leave at a business you've visited, are honest representations of the customer experience. Those that aren't may exist removed." This is the aureate rule at the heart of Google'due south guidelines, which is why the company unremarkably removes peer reviews or reviews you got your friends to write for y'all. (Notation that a reviewer doesn't technically have to be a customer, simply they exercise need to have had client intent — for example, if someone leaves yous a negative review considering yous never called them back, that would still be considered a legitimate review considering they intended to hire you lot and you exhibited poor customer service.)
- "Disharmonize of interest: Reviews are most valuable when they are honest and unbiased. If you ain or work at a place, please don't review your own business or employer."
My interpretation hither was that reviews left by whatever employee — current or by — would not be in line with Google's review policies. Subsequently all, how on earth is an employee's point of view an honest representation of a client experience? An employee is not a client.
Even so, when I tried to assist business owners in getting negative reviews from former employees removed before this year, I discovered that Google but considered reviews from current employees to be against its guidelines.
Stupid, right? I have tried to wrap my head effectually this, and I tin't understand what possessed Google to come up upwardly with that policy.
Here is a recent example. In this thread on the Google My Business forum, a business possessor was trying to go a review from a former employee removed. They stated that the employee no-showed on her shift three times and was let go. In the review, the user states:
"Yes I am an ex employee. My opinion of [omitted] was the same while I worked there as when I stopped working there."
She continues to argue that her stance is the same as the customers' and starts comparison them to 1 of their competitors.
In some other example, an ex-employee reviewed a preschool and made negative comments nigh the business owner and mentioned that their disability to run the school well is why they tin't proceed staff.
How Google considers these reviews reflective of a customer experience is beyond me. Even so in both cases, Google refused to remove the reviews and clarified that it'south not against their guidelines because the employee doesn't currently work there.
The good news, however, is that Google updated their review policies on December 14, 2017, and it looks similar reviews from former employees are finally at present able to exist removed. The new guidelines are now in the Maps help center (they used to exist under Google My Business), and they note that "posting negative content about a current or former employment experience" is no longer immune, every bit it is considered a conflict of interest.
If you were ane of those unfortunate businesses that had experiences like the two examples above, now is the time to contact Google My Business and ask them to remove the reviews. Hopefully, this time, you'll become an appropriate response!
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Joy is the possessor of the Local Search Forum, LocalU, and Sterling Sky, a Local SEO agency in Canada & the USA. She has been working in the industry since 2006 and enjoys speaking regularly at marketing conferences such as MozCon, LocalU, Pubcon, SearchLove, and Country of Search. Y'all tin find her on Twitter or volunteering as a Product Skilful on the Google My Business Forum.
Source: https://searchengineland.com/negative-reviews-ex-employees-finally-googles-guidelines-288390
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