If You Are Thinking To Buy Google Reviews Think Twice

Regardless of your business's size, reviews are vital in growing your business. These reviews benefit people looking for a particular service or product they want because they help them know about how others are using it, what their experiences are, and most importantly, whether they are facing any after-purchase issues. Business owners know and understand this and use it to increase their sales and make a good impression of their product or service among the people; they Buy Google Reviews. Reconsider if you own a business, have a product, and are considering buying Google Reviews. Would it be good or bad? Legal or illegal? What could be the consequences if Google finds any fake reviews? In this guide, you will find everything essential to understand before purchasing reviews on Google.  

Why does Google Reviews have significance?

Google reviews are crucial to running a business online, especially its digital presence. Most users nowadays search for a product or company on Google and read what people say about it. "The better the review, the better the sales and brand image." Reviews are highly significant in building customer trust. As per the report, more than 70% of consumers still believe in reviews they find on Google. 

Why do people buy Google reviews?

There are many reasons why Google reviews are purchased. Running a business is challenging, and reviews offer a faster approach to success since they make a direct connection between the company and the consumer. Here are some of the most common thoughts behind purchasing fake reviews.

• Because of the heavy competition in the market, businesses are willing to compete; an extra 5-star rating can help them stand out.
• Businesses with fewer customers struggle to get more reviews and reach new customers because they are new to the market.
• A handful of bad reviews can potentially decrease their ratings, so they seek help from AI-generated reviews and try to compensate for the ratings game. 

Legal and Ethical Angles regarding Fake Reviews.

Buying fake reviews also has illegal and unethical consequences. In many countries, counterfeit reviews are prohibited, and regulatory bodies have strict guidelines regarding the practice of any related activity. 

• "In the United States, companies found guilty of buying fake reviews can face penalties of up to $43,792 per violation, as outlined in the FTC's Penalty Offenses. The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection director, Samuel Levine, said, "Fake reviews and other deceptive endorsements cheat consumers and undercut honest businesses." He added, "Advertisers will pay a price if they engage in these deceptive practices." You can read it here:  
• The CMA in the United Kingdom has taken decisive action against businesses purchasing or creating fake reviews.

Consequences

The consequences of buying fake reviews can be severe, and some of them include strict actions, as stated below.

• Removal of fake reviews by Google: Google continuously detects and deletes reviews that violate its policies. 
• Account suspension: Many people have had their accounts suspended or temporarily banned by Google if any such fishy activity is identified. Google's policies are intended to provide original and accurate information about a company or product to its users on the internet. 
• SEO gets affected: Here, these fake reviews will impact a business in such a way that it loses visibility in local search results, and its potential customers won't find its products and services, eventually losing them, and consumers will find competitors' products and services. Some SEO penalties include-
  • Search Rank Penalties are when the business reduces its visibility in search results.
  • Complete delisting from Google's Local Pack and Maps means users won't find the business even if they search for it.
  • Loss of legitimate reviews since Google will remove flagged fake reviews, but there is also a high chance that genuine reviews will be removed. 
  • It affects organic search traffic through several factors, such as signaling low trustworthiness when fake reviews breach the quality standards, creating inconsistencies because fake reviews feel unnatural and low-engaging, and damaging CTR or click-through rates that intensely hurt the SEO performance report. 

Reasons to say no to purchasing fake Google reviews.

• Paying for the reviews is unethical and illegal. Many countries have strict laws against fake reviews. One such country is the UK, where the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) takes action against agencies because they breach the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, which can lead to civil or criminal proceedings. Similarly, the US has the Federal Trade Commission that handles and provides guidelines for such activities.
• Google may find it not lawful. You have to understand that Google's entire business runs on trust since users trust Google for the authentic and genuine information it provides them, and when it comes to fake reviews, it breaks users' trust in Google. Here, Google does not bump your My Business local search box out of the search results if it finds several fake reviews. 
• Fake reviews are easily spotted. Anyone can spot fake Google reviews because they generally contain poor wording and are irrelevant to the company or product. The accounts' profiles have a wide range of reviews on various companies and products in a short time. 
• Your company's visibility and ranking will be badly affected. Say no to the manipulative practice of buying fake Google reviews. It can badly affect your ranking on Google search since Google's algorithm uses advanced AI and ML technologies to identify whether your company or product has fake reviews. Your company's growth, organic traffic, and visibility will decrease, which potentially leads to damaging online presence and brand image. 

Practices must consider buying Google reviews instead.

• You should not ask third-party digital marketing agencies to write fake reviews for you. 
• You should not write reviews about your products because doing so will not help you find the proper responses and suggestions that may improve your product and grow your company. 
• You must ensure that any third party you consider working for your digital marketing adheres to the guidelines and rules.
• You should consider working with a reputable Google-licensed review partner who can manage authentic reviews for your business.
• Happy customers write positive reviews, so work for your customers' satisfaction and keep taking their feedback. 

Final Thoughts

In this digital era, where customers unthinkingly rely on what is written about the product instead of doing their own research, companies purchase fake reviews to build their brand image and growth. Still, it is entirely illegal and comes with severe consequences. Hopefully, you have read this guide and found out why it is not good to buy Google reviews and think twice before doing any such activity. It may give you a benefit, but only for the short term. In the long run, you risk your brand or company's reputation.