Comments on: Responding to Fake Reviews – Return of the Dentist http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/ Developing Knowledge about Local Search Sun, 19 May 2013 15:21:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: earlpearl http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-559244 earlpearl Tue, 08 Nov 2011 23:37:31 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-559244 Mike: I know you’ll see this, even if nobody else does :D

The review from 11/14/2010 has been removed. There are other neg reviews on the places page…but this one with reference to inappropriate sexual activity is no longer up.

Do you have any idea how this got removed???

]]> By: panzermike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546978 panzermike Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:55:46 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546978 Absurd. The response should be a lawsuit against Google for republishing defamation, sec 230 must be repealed!

]]> By: MiriamEllis http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546938 MiriamEllis Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:22:16 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546938 Thanks, Jim. I’m always interested in nice copywriting work. I love to take people’s ideas and needs and polish them into really good reads.

]]> By: Jim Rudnick http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546933 Jim Rudnick Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:19:03 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546933 spot-on, Miriam…..you handled the issue well IMHO! and I’d think that the dentist WILL get some feedback from his patients over the next few months and will learn that this solution “worked” eh!

:-)

Jim

PS @Miriam….I always knew I’d like referring biz to you…and will continue to do so every chance I get too! well done, Mam!

]]> By: MiriamEllis http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546932 MiriamEllis Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:52:42 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546932 @Jim -
So glad to know you liked the response. Regarding being a woman – yes, it is very real that women often have special concerns/considerations in certain scenarios that men less frequently have to worry about. I’m not sure I’m following your idea about averting unwanted behavior, beyond my own experience of requesting that my husband take my arm in public on occasion when any stranger seems to be paying unwanted attention to me. Works like a charm, but if you’re alone, it’s not so easy.

Like your local dentist’s office, mine is full of ladies who are there to assist the dentist and the tone of appointments is never anything but professional and comfortable. I’ve never visited a dentist who did not make sure that these safeguards and courtesies were in place.

]]> By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546926 Mike Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:21:24 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546926 @Jason

Do not get me started on the world’s oldest con game er… BBB. They have a conflict of interest at the core of their business strategy…. essentially strong arming businesses into paying to have credibility. I am not familiar with the specifics of your acquaintances issue but I generally find the BBB’s tactics less than appealling. They are not really an independent voice in quality or trust of the businesses that they are paid by.

]]> By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546925 Mike Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:04:19 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546925 @Jeffrey

I think that effectively reviews have diminished in importance in the ranking algo with the rollout of the blended results that puts so much more emphasis on the strength of the web page. Not that Google couldn’t dial their importance back up… I also think that more is only better to a point in the algo….

As to the tone of the comments, while I prefer a touch less confrontation, my goal is always to ferret out as useful of an answer as possible. This requires honest self appraisal and reflection and a contrary opinion is useful in that critique. The goal for me is to learn, and as long as that is the overall direction, the more comments the better.

]]> By: Jason http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546924 Jason Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:03:16 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546924 Very true Mike, I do try to spread my reviews around especially because of the new cascading display Google uses. Even if I have 300 reviews, they can only see one. My office is made up of a lot of older patients, so trying to get them over to Yelp, Citysearch, or Insiderpages is like pulling teeth (pun intended). I use the 3rd party service because it is easy for them to wrap their brain around. It is still hard to get reviews even with the automated service. My 2nd office is located in a more urban environment, and I can easily suggest other directories because they are more savvy. I try not to put all my eggs in one basket due to the instances with Yelp and Tripadvisor that you have illustrated. I know that Google could change their mind at any time. Thanks again for all the great info Mike! I also spoke with a dentist the other day who said that BBB.org was strong arming him over his rating on the site. He did not want to pay the monthly fee anymore and his rating began to drop dramatically. I know Yelp has been accused of using these tactics before. Have you heard of the same for BBB?

]]> By: Jeffrey Magner http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546920 Jeffrey Magner Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:27:09 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546920 Mike, Thanks for the great post. I’ve recently had a psychologist client in a very similar situation. Reviews are a very “tricky” issue in all the medical and mental health fields – mental health especially – for obvious reasons. Those that play by the rules are out-ranked by those with reviews. Mike do you anticipate the ranking value of reviews to lessen in the next 12 months? Just curious.

I like this response from the Dentist. It could have been a lot worse for sure. Certainly getting some more positive reviews would be more helpful than him talking about the glowing reviews he gets. Taking responsibility is the way to go.

And maybe I’m too “west coast” or something but I don’t really care for the negative banter of several of the comments in this post. I guess I should toughen up a bit.

]]> By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/03/25/responding-to-fake-reviews-return-of-the-dentist/comment-page-1/#comment-546918 Mike Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:52:20 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=9606#comment-546918 @Jason

I generally agree that fake reviews are difficult to respond to. However, sometimes there is no choice. I think this was one of those cases.

That being said, I agree that the best strategy is one to gather reviews from all customers on an ongoing basis. I also think that it is best to get them at a range of different review sites. One of the problems that I have with Demand Force is that they essentially have you “single sourcing” your reviews. I think it would be prudent to have reviews at the other sites as well as Demand Force.

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