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Google Has a New Form for Reporting ‘Review Bombing’ Attacks
Plus, the tech giant shares the steps retailers should take if they believe they’re a victim of a review extortion scam.
Google has a new form that merchants can fill out to directly report extortion tactics.
Mountain View, Calif.—Google has a new way for business owners to report Google Reviews extortion attempts.
The tech giant said in a blog post published earlier this month that it has created a form merchants can use to report extortion tactics directly to Google, allowing it to take action against bad actors.
The move follows reports from numerous business owners who say they were victims of “review bombing,” which is when a scammer floods a business’s profile with fake one-star reviews.
The scammers then reach out to the merchant directly, usually through third-party messaging apps, and demand money.
“They threaten that if the business fails to pay the fee, the negative reviews will remain, or the attack will escalate and further damage the business’s public rating and reputation to coerce the victim into paying the extortion demand,” said Google.
In one incident, shared with CBS News New York, the owner of a pharmacy was receiving several one-star reviews, including bizarre ones that claimed he was selling overpriced vehicles in poor condition.
The business owner said his star rating was suffering and the scammers were demanding $100 for the removal of each fake post.
Google Maps, which operates the review service, prohibits fake engagement, harassment, extortion, and other harmful content, said Google, and it monitors for, blocks, and removes violations.
“Although our moderation systems catch most suspicious activity, we recommend that all merchants remain vigilant in identifying and reporting potential extortion of their Business Profile,” said the company.
Google does not recommend engaging with the scammers or paying the ransom, as it can encourage more attacks.
Merchants are advised to report the activity using the new merchant extortion report form, and to save records, including screenshots, emails, and chat logs, of these demands to share with law enforcement as evidence.
Once the report is submitted, Google said its team will investigate the claim and notify the merchant about the results of the investigation.
In a recent episode of National Jeweler and Jewelers of America’s co-branded webinar series “My Next Question” about Google Reviews, marketing consultant Andre' Savoie gave his advice on how retailers should handle these attacks.
“Submit [the report] and be done with it. If they remove it, they remove it. If they don’t, you still have the same job tomorrow, which is go [get] some new [reviews],” he said. “Don't get overly hung up on it one way or the other.”
The best way to offset negative reviews is to receive positive ones from actual customers, said the webinar panelists.
Watch the full webinar here to learn more about tips for encouraging positive reviews and dealing with negative feedback from customers.
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