Google Reviews has become one of the most prominent social proofs for any online business in the past few years as it has helped both businesses as well as customers with its services. 

What is a Google Review?

Google Reviews is a feature provided by Google that allows users to write and share their feedback and opinions about businesses, products, or services they have experienced. These reviews appear on Google Maps and Google search results, providing valuable insights to potential customers.

Pros and Cons of Google reviews

– Pros

  • High Visibility: With over 3 billion searches everyday, it is not surprising that if you have good reviews against your company then it will be visible to a lot of people. Hence, this helps in enhancing local SEO for your business. 
  • Integration of Knowledge Graph: Having your physical address listed on Google Maps can boost up your visibility to another level. Even on the map listing, customers are able to watch the ratings and reviews of your business. 
  • Mobile Convenience: Google reviews are easily accessible through Google Maps and mobile search results which makes it even more convenient. 
  • Local SEO: Local SEO is a part of Google’s Local search pack that also consists of Local Map listing. So if you have good Google reviews, your business might appear in the map listings.

    Google reviews have a key role to play in Google’s local ranking algorithm. This directly affects the sales as it makes the brand more visible in its local market.  
  • Free Advertising: Good reviews on the top of search results is essentially free advertising. Being visible on the largest search engine on the internet has its own perks and with good reviews it can be even more beneficial.
  • Marketing Integration: Google provides free assets to the companies to add the reviews on their site. There are different google review widgets available with Google that brands can use to request their customers to review them.

– Cons

  • Fake Reviews: Since Google is such a big platform reaching to everyone, the chances of fake reviews also increases. Google is trying its best to make the Google reviews as authenticated as possible but still there is some impact that fake reviews might have on the overall rating.
  • Customers can rate without reviewing: Google reviews gives the customers a chance to rate their experience without sharing the experience. This restricts the company from understanding in what way they can improve. 

    Although Google does have policies that enable it to restrict multiple reviews coming from a single IP, it would not be much difficult for someone to use VPN and add multiple reviews.
  • Limited Fraud Detection: There are plenty cracks through which fraud reviewers can review even after repeated attempts of Google to detect fake reviews. Competitor businesses often understand the review guidelines and find a loophole so that fraud negative reviews can be added. 

    Companies also hire people to add positive fake reviews that are often not detected by Google.
  • Limited Results: Apart from Local SEO and visibility, Google reviews does not have much to offer. There are so many more things a company has to take care of for their digital marketing, even after they have good reviews. Google Reviews cannot be the only validator of your online reputation. 

    Now that we have explored the pros and cons of relying on Google Reviews for your business growth, you can make informed decisions to harness the potential benefits while mitigating the challenges they may present.