4 Easy Tips To Get Bad Reviews Removed From Google Play Store

Sep 26, 2022 5 min read

Failing to get a bad review removed from the Google Play Store can seriously risk your app performance and brand reputation. When left untouched on the Google Play Store, bad reviews can lead to a decrease in downloads, negative publicity, decreased profits, loss of potential customers, and other consequences.

If your business has been hit with bad reviews recently, don’t worry. Negative reviews happen to every business at some point, whether it is a disgruntled client, a vengeful former employee, an anonymous online troll, or your competitor.

What is important is that you know how to handle bad reviews and arrange to get them removed as quickly as possible. Here in this blog, we will depict the best possible ways to get bad reviews removed from the Google Play Store and prevent it from razing your brand reputation.

Table Of Contents:

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Can You Remove Reviews From Google Play Store?

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, because you can flag fake reviews that violate the Comment Posting Policy. If the Play Store finds that the comment flagged actually violates their commenting policy, they will remove the review.

And no, because it's not necessary that the comment you flag will be removed.

Bonus Content: 3 Ways To Get Google Reviews Deleted [Always Work]

How To Get Bad Reviews Removed From Google Play Store?

Businesses can get bad reviews removed from the Google Play Store in the following four ways:

  1. Using Online Reputation Management Tools
  2. Ask The Customer To Remove The Review
  3. Flag The Review To Google For Terms Of Service Violations
  4. Release A New Update

Let's discuss each of them in detail:

Using Online Reputation Management Tools

Online reputation management tools like Statusbrew help you manage and promptly reply to reviews from Google Play Store, App Store, Google My Business, and more from a single dashboard.

It lets you avoid the common mistakes businesses often commit while managing their reviews. You can even involve your team and ensure you do not miss out on a single review!

Statusbrew: Reputation Management Tool

Here's how Statusbrew can help you to tackle bad reviews:

  • Get back to irate customers quickly by getting notified of all bad reviews.
  • Understand audience emotions at a scale using AI-powered sentiment analysis.
  • Auto-assign negative reviews to specific team members.
  • Automatically route bad reviews to a particular inbox/team member.
  • Collaborate with team members in real-time to handle customer queries quickly.
  • Mitigate compliance issues using controlled team member access and no password sharing.
  • Auto-hide spam and trolls across your social real estate.
  • Keep track of customers who constantly post bad reviews across platforms using inbuilt CRM.
  • Get in-depth brand reputation insights.

Try Statusbrew

Ask The Customer To Remove The Review

This method results in the immediate removal of bad reviews from the Google Play Store.

52% of customers expect to hear back from the business within seven days of posting a negative or critical review. Therefore, as a general rule, you should respond to reviews within 24 to 48 hours of posting.

Usually, someone posts a complaint on the Play Store because they want their voice to be heard. Letting the person know that their complaint has been heard and the problem is being addressed is all that is required sometimes.

Example of responding to customer's negative review on Google Play Store

It's also important to offer solutions. Is the customer seeking an apology or a refund? Asking the customer what they want will resolve the situation peacefully.

You can stand a chance of the customer removing their review by resolving the issue or, at the very least, changing the star rating and editing the reviews.

Flag The Review To Google For Terms Of Service Violations

Google Play Store allows app developers to report reviews that they find fake or violate the Terms of Service.

You can flag the review from your developer console. Google will review it, and if they find that the review violates its comment posting policy, it shall remove the review. You will need to check back on your reviews page to see if the appeal was accepted.

Here's how to flag and report a Google Play Store review:

Step 1: Open Play Console
Step 2: Click on Quality -> Ratings and Reviews -> Reviews
Step 3: Find the review you wish to report
Step 4: Click on the flag icon
Step 5: Select Report

Now the review goes to a Google specialist to determine if the review actually violated the company's comment posting policy. If it does, then it's removed, and if it doesn't, you are notified that the review will remain.

Remember that during the reporting process, there isn't a way for you to justify how the review is fake.

Release A New Update

Reviews made on newer app versions are more important than those made on older versions. You will soon see older reviews gradually superseded by newer ones. Just ensure whatever affected the earlier app version to have inspired the bad reviews is now removed in the newer version.

Example of effect of an app update on reviews on Google Play Store

Get Bad Reviews Removed From Play Store Now!

Unfortunately, legitimate negative reviews on Google Play Store are still authentic, and the world can see that. It’s tough to pass off an honest review as fake. The least you can do is manage those reviews and work towards converting the negative reviews to positive ones. The negative reviews are undeniable. Hence, while dealing with such customers may be daunting, it is your best shot at managing their reviews effectively.

Need help tracking your online reviews on Google My Business, Google Play Store, App Store, and more? Sign up for a free demo with Statusbrew today to learn how we can help! ?

Try Statusbrew

Statusbrew is an all-in-one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and even Google My Business.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Here are some commonly asked questions on removing bad reviews from the Google Play Store:

Can developers delete reviews on the Play Store?

No. Developers cannot delete ratings and reviews on the Play Store. Developers can respond to the reviews or flag the review for violating Google’s Terms of Service from the Play Console.

How to edit reviews on the Google Play Store?

Open the Google Play Store app. Go to the detail page of the product/service you reviewed. Scroll to the reviews section and tap Edit your review. Tap Post after making the changes.

Does Google automatically remove reviews?

In most cases, Google does remove reviews for policy violations. These removal measures help ensure that reviews on Google properties are helpful, relevant, and trustworthy.

Rushali Das

Rushali is a content writer at Statusbrew. She is fond of writing content that compels people to slow down and look more closely to discover the unknown stories.

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