Google is investigating reports of reviews going missing and pausing reviews on local listings
Google has confirmed it is investigating the reports of bugs with reviews in Google Business Profiles after several days of complaints from businesses.
Topic: Online Review
Google offers QR codes to get reviews from customers
You can share the QR code with your customers in your marketing materials or hang it in your store to help them leave you a review.
How to navigate negative Glassdoor and Indeed company reviews
Dealing with negative reviews from former employees? Here’s how to respond properly and protect your company's online reputation.
Local SEO in 2024: 6 simple ways to dominate local search
New to local search? Wondering where to start? Here are six tactics to help you kick off your local SEO campaign.
Yelp unveils 3 new features to transform user experience and boost engagement
The new features simplify finding businesses tailored to users' needs and promote valuable content contributions.
When it comes to online reviews, a 3-star rating is bad
The difference between 4 stars to 3 stars is massive. Consumer trust decreases by 67% with one fewer star, a new survey finds.
85% of Yelp survey respondents say they trust written reviews over stars only
71% of respondents say they would no longer visit a business if they learned the business has fake or compensated online reviews.
Google review guidelines say discouraging negative or selectively soliciting positive reviews is not allowed
Google is now being very explicit about this in their guidelines, so be careful.
Google prohibits incentivizing customers to remove or modify negative reviews
Now you can't offer incentives to ask people who left negative reviews to revise their reviews.
Google business profile reviews posting bugs should be resolved soon
Google has confirmed there was an issue with some reviews not posting and those reviews should be processed the end of this week.
9 in 10 customers more likely to overlook a negative review if the business responds adequately, Yelp says
Half of survey respondents said they don’t trust reviews if they know the business asked customers to leave them.
Google says it values all local reviews, both positive and negative
Google has updated their help documents to say it finds a mix of reviews more trustworthy.
Yelp announces new features for services businesses, including custom search filters, a new review flow and themed ads
The new features may help Yelp differentiate itself from other reviews platforms, at least for users looking for services businesses.
Cleaning house: how Google and Yelp handle fake reviews; Tuesday’s daily brief
Plus, four tools to check for your title changes in SERPs
Users can now leave more detailed restaurant reviews on Google
Details like price range and meal type are useful for potential customers, but will Google use it to enable search filters?
TripAdvisor, Yelp and others highlight venue safety, an emerging consumer decision factor
Cautious consumers want more information about COVID-19 precautions.
Google reviews coming out of quarantine
New user reviews, photos, Q&A will return gradually, by category and country.
Google temporarily disables local reviews
The company has hit pause on review creation or responding for now.
Fake and inaccurate reviews driving billions in ‘wasted’ consumer spending [Report]
Roughly 90% of adult internet users rely on reviews, but with growing awareness of fraud and manipulation.
Consumers more invested in reviews, but also more skeptical of authenticity — survey
Users now consult multiple sites and expect reviews to be relatively fresh.
Reviews platform GatherUp acquired by martech holding company ASG
Company run by local search veterans Mike Blumenthal and Aaron Weiche joins a larger portfolio of software companies.
Restaurants believe digital channels more important than consumers say they are
Online reviews cited by 48% of owners as influential; only 35% percent of consumers agreed.
85% of consumers disregard local reviews more than 3 months old
For those under 55, the majority of review consumption now occurs on smartphones.
Google local reviews study shows 74% of businesses have at least one review
Check out this new study on Google local reviews from the BrightLocal team.
Local SEO
Contributed by Mike Hayes, Founder of Darby Hayes Consulting If you run a local business, there is a good chance you’ve heard of SEO (and likely been pitched SEO services by numerous email and telemarketers). However, there is a lot of misinformation around the web, and what this guide hopes to do is set the […]
TripAdvisor survey: TripAdvisor more trusted, widely used than Yelp, Google, Facebook
The sponsored survey looked at influence on restaurant decision-making.
Google to notify those who leave reviews when business owners respond
The new feature will be rolling out over the next few days.
Google selling Zagat to restaurant recommendations site The Infatuation
Google no longer needs Zagat as it once did.
Law firm that used contest to solicit Google reviews sees all but one disappear
Incentivizing reviews individually or 'in bulk' is a bad idea.
Google again showing third-party reviews in local results
Program has been in place since 2016 and involves direct, opt-in integration.
Removal of hotel review reporting rape creates crisis of confidence for TripAdvisor content
The site had scrubbed first-person reviews and content about rape and sexual assault at a Mexican resort.
Survey: 79 percent of consumers believe they’ve seen fake local reviews
Almost 75 percent also said they had been asked to leave a review.
Yelp increasingly cracking down on ‘review solicitation’ across the internet
The company wants to stop the practice of asking for customer reviews on its site, and third-party sites as well.
Google confirms it’s rolling out new reviews format for hotels
It's official, Google is rolling out the more graphical user interface for hotel reviews.
Study argues Yelp drives higher conversions than Google and Facebook
92% of respondents said they made a purchase after visiting the site.
Let’s make 2017 the year of honest reviews!
Reviews can be an important part of a local SEO strategy, but columnist Greg Gifford warns that overdoing it can make your business look shady.
70% of consumers will leave a review for a business when asked
Want to get inside the minds of potential customers for your local business? Columnist Sherry Bonelli shares insights from BrightLocal's annual Local Consumer Review Survey.
Google adds ‘Reviews from the web’ to critic reviews in local search results
To be considered for inclusion, sites will need to use review snippet markup.
Forget Your Testimonials Page, 2016 Is The Year Of Reviews
Let's face it: Customers aren't reading your testimonials page. So what can you put in its place? Columnist Greg Gifford shares his ideas.
Is “Facebook Professional Services” Facebook’s Stealth Project To Beat Yelp?
Unannounced desktop-only feature gives people the ability to find the highest-rated businesses in a given area.