Short answer: you can’t delete a review someone else wrote, and neither can a company you hire. You can report it, and Google takes it down only if it breaks Google’s content policy. Fake reviews, reviews from a competitor or a former employee, off-topic rants, insults and personal details qualify. An honest bad review stays up, and what you can do then is reply and collect newer reviews.
If you wrote the review yourself, you can edit or delete it from Google Maps in a minute: the steps are near the end. Google says it “doesn’t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers”, so a report needs a policy reason, not a disagreement.
The reviews Google takes down
Under Google’s rules for content on Maps, these reviews come down:
- Fake engagement. Reviews “not based on a real experience”, reviews paid for in money or in kind, and several reviews from one person posting with different accounts.
- Rating manipulation. Reviews from someone with a conflict of interest, such as a current or former employee, a contractor, a relative or a competitor. It also covers “unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions” aimed at moving a rating.
- Impersonation and misrepresentation. A review posted in someone else’s name, or a false or misleading account of a product or a service.
- Harassment, hate speech and offensive content. Threats, doxxing, attacks on a person or a group, and accusations of crimes or unethical conduct that the reviewer can’t back up.
- Personal information. Someone’s private details posted without consent, such as financial or medical information. A doctor, a lawyer or another professional who works under their own name can be named.
- Obscene, sexual, violent or dangerous content. Profanity used to offend, sexually explicit material, gore, and anything that encourages serious harm.
- Off-topic posts, ads and repeats. Political or social commentary and “personal rants”, reviews with phone numbers, emails or links, and the same text posted again and again.
- Restricted goods. Offers to sell regulated products, like alcohol, tobacco, guns or medicines, with a link, a phone number or a price.
An honest bad review isn’t on that list. Google’s policy allows “content that describes negative experiences in a respectful manner”. A complaint you find unfair, told without insults or invented facts, breaks none of these rules. Google asks you not to report a review because you “disagree with it or dislike it”.
Sources: Google Maps, “Prohibited & restricted content”. Google Business Profile Help, “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile”. Read October 18, 2026.
How to report a Google review
You can report from your own profile, from Google Maps or with the Reviews Management Tool. Customers and anyone else can report a review too, from Maps.
From your Business Profile on Google Search
Google lets you manage your profile right on Search. Sign in with the Google Account linked to it and go to your Business Profile.
- Choose Read reviews.
- Find the review and choose Report next to it.
- Pick the reason that fits, for example “Spam” or “Profanity”.
- Choose Send report.
From Google Maps
On a computer:
- Open the business in Google Maps and go to its Reviews tab.
- Click the menu next to the review and choose Report review. Some Google pages call it Flag as inappropriate.
- Fill in the form and click Submit.
In the Google Maps app, tap the review, then More and Report review. On Android, the app also offers Not helpful, which doesn’t report anything: it makes Google show that review to fewer people. The app’s Reports section lists what you’ve reported, with a status such as “Processing report”, “Content removed” or “Content not removed”.
With the Reviews Management Tool
Google’s Reviews Management Tool shows the status of the reports you send as the owner, and it’s where you appeal. Confirm the email that manages your profile, pick the business and choose to report a new review or check an earlier one. Each report shows one of these statuses:
- Decision pending: Google hasn’t evaluated the review yet, which “typically takes several days”.
- Report reviewed - no policy violation: the review stays, and you can appeal once.
- Escalated - check your email for updates: your appeal is with Google, and the final decision arrives by email.
To appeal, go back to the tool, open the reviews you reported before and choose Appeal eligible reviews. You can pick up to 10 reviews and fill in one form. If Google finds a violation, the review comes down. If it doesn’t, the review stays live.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help, “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile” and “Edit your Business Profile”. Google Maps, “Report or fix content” and “Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews & ratings”. Read October 18, 2026.
When fake reviews arrive in a wave
A burst of 1-star ratings from accounts that never bought from you falls under rating manipulation. Report each review from your profile. If one account is behind several of them, report the account as well: in the Google Maps app, tap Business, then Reviews, tap the reviewer’s name and choose More and Report.
When the wave comes with a message asking for money, goods or a favor to make it stop, it’s extortion, and Google has a form to report extortion. Google warns that paying “can encourage further attempts”. Before you file, note when you first saw the reviews and when the demand arrived. Keep every name, username, phone number and profile the sender used.
Google says its moderation catches most suspicious activity, and that it may switch off reviews for a while on some profiles or business categories to protect owners. Its automated spam detection sometimes removes a real review by mistake. If that happens to a genuine customer’s review, Google asks you to contact support.
Sources: Google Maps, “Prohibited & restricted content”. Google Business Profile Help, “Report negative review extortion scams on your Business Profile”, “About missing or delayed reviews” and “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile”. Read October 18, 2026.
Defamation and other legal reasons
If you believe a review breaks the law or your rights, Google has a separate route: its Report Content for Legal Reasons page. Google asks you to flag the review in Maps first. Then choose the product, choose the legal reason and paste the link to the review itself, not to your profile. Say as specifically as you can why you’re reporting it. Google emails a confirmation with a reference number and may write back with questions.
Whether a review is defamatory is a question for a lawyer. Talk to one before you file or before you contact the reviewer about it. This guide isn’t legal advice.
Source: Google Legal Help, “Report Content for Legal Reasons”, read October 18, 2026.
What not to do
Some ways of getting rid of a review break Google’s policy, federal rules or both:
- Paying a review removal service. Google removes a review only when it breaks a policy, whoever reports it. The FTC tells businesses not to misuse report buttons to get rid of honest negative reviews. It also warns that reputation companies may get results with fake reviews without saying so, and “you can be held responsible for what they do on your behalf”.
- Offering something for the edit. A discount, a refund, a gift card or a free service in return for removing or softening a review counts as rating manipulation, and Google takes those reviews down. The FTC adds that paying to change or remove truthful negative reviews “may violate the FTC Act”.
- Asking only the customers you expect to be happy. Marketers call it review gating. Google’s policy bans soliciting positive reviews selectively, and the FTC’s guide for marketers says: “Don’t ask for reviews only from customers you think will leave positive ones.”
- Burying it under fake praise. Since October 21, 2024, the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, bans fake reviews and paying for reviews that must be positive or negative. The rule lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Google can also stop a profile from getting new reviews for a while, hide its reviews or show a warning that fake reviews were removed.
- Threatening the reviewer. The same rule bans “an unfounded or groundless legal threat, a physical threat, intimidation, or a public false accusation” used to stop a review or get it taken down.
- A contract clause against reviews. The Consumer Review Fairness Act bans form contracts, online terms included, that stop customers from reviewing you, fine them for a review or claim the rights to what they wrote. The law still lets you remove a review that’s “clearly false or misleading”, but the FTC says an opinion you disagree with is unlikely to meet that standard.
Sources: FTC, “Soliciting and Paying for Online Reviews: A Guide for Marketers”, “The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers” and “Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know”. eCFR, 16 CFR Part 465. Google Maps, “Prohibited & restricted content”. Google Business Profile Help, “Business Profile restrictions for policy violations”. Read October 18, 2026.
If you wrote the review
Your review stays on Google Maps until you take it down, and it isn’t anonymous: people see it with the name on your Google profile.
On a computer
- Open Google Maps and click Menu at the top left.
- Click Your contributions, then Reviews.
- Click More next to the review and choose Edit review or Delete review.
On an Android phone or an iPhone
- In the Google Maps app, tap Contribute, then View your profile.
- Scroll to See all reviews.
- Tap More next to the review and choose Edit review or Delete review.
An edited review shows the date of your last edit as its date.
Source: Google Maps Help, “Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews & ratings”, computer, Android and iPhone versions, read October 18, 2026.
When the review stays up
If the review stays, put your effort into what the next customer reads beside it.
- Answer it in public. A calm, specific reply with an offer to talk by phone or email. Our guide on how to respond to negative reviews has five templates to copy.
- Solve it with the customer. The FTC rule doesn’t stop you from contacting the reviewer to fix the problem, or from asking a satisfied customer to update a review. Offer nothing for the update.
- Bring in newer reviews. Ask every customer, with your review link and a QR code, as our guide on how to get more Google reviews explains.
Source: FTC, “The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers”, read October 18, 2026.
Quick answers about review removal
What if Google decides the review breaks no policy?
The Reviews Management Tool shows “Report reviewed - no policy violation”. If you disagree, you get one appeal: choose Appeal eligible reviews, select up to 10 reviews and fill in the form. Google emails you the result. If it still finds no violation, the review stays live.
Do review removal services work?
Not the way they promise. Google removes only reviews that break its policies, no matter who reports them. The FTC warns that some reputation companies use fake reviews and that you can answer for what they do for you. Someone asking for money to stop a wave of bad reviews is extortion: report it to Google.
Can I ask a customer to change a bad review?
You can contact them to fix what went wrong, and the FTC rule doesn’t stop you from asking a satisfied customer to update a review. Don’t offer anything for it, and don’t tell them what to write. Google removes reviews changed in return for a discount, a refund or a gift.
How do I delete a Google review I wrote?
On a computer, open Google Maps, then Menu, Your contributions and Reviews. In the app, tap Contribute, View your profile and See all reviews. Next to the review, choose More and then Delete review. You can edit it instead, and it will show the date of the edit.
What can I do about a defamatory review?
Flag it in Google Maps or from your profile first. Then use Google’s page to report content for legal reasons and include the link to the review. Whether it is defamation is a question for a lawyer. And don’t threaten the reviewer: the FTC rule bans unfounded legal threats used to get a review removed.
Need help keeping up with your reviews?
We don’t sell review removal. Our local SEO service answers every review on your Google profile, good and bad, in the language it was written in. It also gives you a link and a QR code to ask every customer for one. Book a 20-minute call and we’ll go through your profile with you.
Sources
- Google Maps, “Prohibited & restricted content”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Maps, “Report or fix content”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Maps Help, “Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews & ratings”, computer, Android and iPhone versions, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Edit your Business Profile”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Report negative review extortion scams on your Business Profile”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “About missing or delayed reviews”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Business Profile restrictions for policy violations”, read October 18, 2026.
- Google Legal Help, “Report Content for Legal Reasons”, read October 18, 2026.
- eCFR, 16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, read October 18, 2026.
- FTC, “The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers”, read October 18, 2026.
- FTC, “Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials”, August 14, 2024, read October 18, 2026.
- FTC, “Soliciting and Paying for Online Reviews: A Guide for Marketers”, read October 18, 2026.
- FTC, “Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know”, read October 18, 2026.