Comments on: Asking for Reviews – UMoveFree Finds the Groove

By: Getlisted Local University WNY – Additional Reading | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:01:57 +0000

[...] customer reviews Responding to Negative Reviews – Your Prospects are the Real Audience Asking for Reviews – UMoveFree Finds the Groove Garnering Reviews – A Mom & (no) Pop Shop finally Hops on Reviews Reviews: Lipstick on a Pig [...]

By: Review Management: 7 Tips on Avoiding Bad Reviews | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:15:11 +0000

[...] a negative review and those that will. Bad reviews sting. Much has been written about ways to garner reviews from your clients. Less has been written about dodging the stinkers. It is equally important in [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:35:29 +0000

@Bob
Their likely behavior (assuming the algo is this sophisticated and I don’t think it is) would be to tag the review on Google as spam and not show it.

By: Bob Sommers

Bob Sommers — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:31:29 +0000

Thanks Mike:
What do you think the consequences are for having the same review on my site and on my place page? Do you think Google will remove the review? Do you think Google will remove all of my reviews? Do you think they might go as far as removing my listing? At this point it would seem that the best course of action is to remove the reviews from my blog.
Thanks Mike

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:21:06 +0000

@Bob
You answered your own question. I had forgotten about the review guideline: “Don’t post similar reviews across multiple places”.

That is a clear violation of the rules. We know that they can detect duplicate review content (although whether they interpret your blog as a review source is another matter). Ultimately it does not behoove you to have the exact same review in two places.

By: Bob Sommers

Bob Sommers — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:16:38 +0000

Thanks Mike:
Once a customer writes a review to my blog, it’s a very easy step for them to just copy it to my Google Place Page where it can be easily seen by searchers. I noticed in Google’s “Review Posting Guidelines & Policy” under the title of “Does Google Remove Reviews?, it reads as follows.
“Nobody likes spam and it can only make its author look bad. Don’t use reviews for advertising or post the same or similar reviews across multiple places.”
My concern is this. By making it very easy for my customers to copy their review to Google, does Google consider this against their rules. If not, what do you think they mean by, “Don’t use reviews for advertising or post the same or similar reviews across multiple places?”

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:31:39 +0000

@Bob

It it is safe to assume that Google is capable of identifying duplicate review content. This became obvious during the TA/Goog spat when Google put syndicated reviews on Places pages rather than TA’s directly.

So while it is not contrary to any policy it, like duplicate content on the web, is not going to help you at all.

It is not clear why you would want a client to post exactly the same content in both places.

By: Bob Sommers

Bob Sommers — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:28:30 +0000

Interesting Question:
Let’s assume that a customer leaves a great comment/testimonial/review on my blog. How does Google feel about that customer taking that same review and uploading it to my Place Page on Google?
Does anyone know if having the identical or similar review on both Google and my blog is considered spam or contrary to Google’s policy, even though the review was posted to my site first? Could Google remove the reviews on my place page if they see the same review on my blog?

By: How Social Media is Rocking Your Customer Service World | John H. Denny

How Social Media is Rocking Your Customer Service World | John H. Denny — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:28:02 +0000

[...] shows is the bulk of all customers) to translate their happy thoughts to the web. Mike Blumenthal interviewed the head of one company– The President and CEO of UMoveFree Nick Barber- that has had great success with his [...]

By: The Review Economy – What is a Positive Review Worth? $3.22 | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 18:19:00 +0000