Reviews are priceless in search engine marketing and an effective digital marketing agency knows how best to use them for a company’s benefit. As beneficial as positive reviews can be, negative reviews are often equally damaging. Consequently, no business wants to be branded by negative reviews, but Google’s new review policy has made some changes to disallow selectively manipulating reviews. Let’s see how.

No Discouraging or Prohibiting Negative Reviews

Internet marketing has various avenues to explore and website design allows the opportunity to choose how reviews are presented to visitors. However, with how effective search engine optimization can be, a negative review can do some heavy damage to a company’s public image through its online presence. According to Ahrefs, using a search engine is the beginning of 68% of online experiences.

With Google’s review policy updates, the act of discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews has been disallowed more directly than in the past. Many SEO businesses were previously aware that this already wasn’t allowed, but the direct wording has made it especially clear.

No Selectively Soliciting Positive Reviews

The policy update has also made a change to how positive reviews are handled. Google already made it clear that incentivizing positive reviews is not allowed, but that has now expanded to include selectively soliciting positive reviews from customers.

What This Could Mean for You

These new rules don’t apply to all review sites, but only to Google. These new rules aren’t just for appearances, so Google is actively policing these restrictions. If your company happens to perform any of these actions, whether it’s intentional or otherwise, it could lead to serious repercussions. Any positive reviews you’ve collected with these methods could be removed. Furthermore, your business could be suspended from Google Search.

Allowing a digital marketing agency to handle your internet marketing is one of the best ways to avoid performing any of these restricted actions. With the help of an agency, you don’t need to manage your online presence on your own. Contact Fasturtle Digital today to learn more about how we can boost your online marketing efforts and maintain your company’s online presence.