(Originally posted by Bob Sommers)

No one likes to see a bad review about his or her business on the Internet, especially if it comes from a disgruntled employee or a competitor who is trying to ruin your reputation. Bad reviews can be devastating.

47% Never Look Back

Forty seven percent of potential customers who read a bad review will go onto the next business listing without giving the site with the bad review a second glance.

Here’s the dirty little secret reviewers won’t tell you. The vast majority of bad reviews are from people who are upset, angry or disappointed with your service. Their reason for providing a bad review has very little to do with the product or service they purchased, it almost always has to do with how you made them feel.

Problem is, the reviewer who took the time to leave a bad review is already angry, and it’s going to be harder to change their mind now than it would have been at the time when the problem occurred. But fortunately, all is not lost.

If you have a bad review that you want removed from Google, here are five solutions that will either win back a dissatisfied customer or push spam reviews to the back of the line.

(Continue reading about getting bad reviews removed from Google here.)

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Hi Josh,
I have an interesting situation with Reviews. I have a condo listing called "Scottsdale Condo For Rent" - A competitor that has a townhouse rental has left 2 reviews pointing back to their townhouse rental. On the surface this seems quite clever. But when it's your listing it's quite irritating. Any recommendations?

Very Interesting. I think it's tacky and tricky. Fortunately it's not a clickable link nor does it act as a citation. Here's what I would do.
1st - Has this guy made reviews on other business listings directing people back to Troon North Vacation Rental - VRBO 42304 - 2 BR Scottsdale Townhome in AZ, Monument View - Ninth Tee, Monument Golf Course, Troon North
2nd - If not, I would try to contact him and ask him to remove his comment, or at least the VRBO link.
3rd - if he has, he is obviously a spammer. You could report the listing to Google, but I don't know how that would serve you.

Very interesting situation

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Thank you for your insightful response, Bob. And, not only is your response insightful but you took the time to research. I appreciate you Bob! You're one of a kind.
Now, here are some related questions: as you know, reviews are very helpful to get your listing ranked. Right now, within a week, Scottsdale Condo For Rent, is #2 on box of 3 listings. I'm not even finished with tweaking my listing. Only one citation done so far. Did those "reviews" help me get to #2? If so, should I leave them until I get more reviews? or does the presence of a competitor cause more harm than good? I have no problem calling them up and talking to them. Would love your insight on these questions.

I've been doing a test on just that (Do reviews have any impact on placement?) and I've come to the conclusion that the answer is "No." When you get a chance, please look at how my virtual business is doing for the very competitive term, House Painters St. Louis, MO. Note that I don't have a single review and I'm in the #1 spot. (Sappington Painters) I believe that reviews are one of the more powerful "Conversion Techniques" but based on my experience, I don't believe they have anything to do with ranking. I did not think this was true just a few months ago.

After responding to your question, I decided to test if leaving a full citation at the end of a review will be seen as a citation by Google and if I could leave a citation in such a way that it is appropriate.

Here's the review I left for a friend of mine, and notice how I am not a competitor and the citation information I left is not spam. I'm going to talk to him about what I did today to see what he thinks.

On the other hand, I would love for my customers leave reviews with citations to their business as I did in the example below. How cool to have a customer so happy with my service that they are willing to encourage a reader on my Google Place Page to contact them directly about my service. I would like to hear your thoughts on this too.

Best Handyman on Maui‎‎
By Mauibob - Aug 21, 2010
I've had a chance to work with Craig on multiple projects. He is the hardest, most honest person I've ever worked with. If you would like to talk to me directly about Craig, please contact me at Internet Marketing Association of Hawaii the Internet Marketing Association of Hawaii 821 Kumulani Drive Kihei, HI 96753 808-891-0449‎

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Hi Bob, this is my initial post upon reading your response above, about Reviews. I love this idea of client, not only leaving a good review and then going above and beyond by encouraging others to contact him/her. The idea of a raving fan. I love it! I haven't seen that before, but if clients and reviewers see more examples of these types of citations, I can see how it can become a new trend in Reviews. Talk soon, after I trace House Painters St. Louis, MO.

Hey Bob, I was looking at your Sappington Painters listing. I noticed that you have many Painters listed Nearby. Are these the painters you are promoting?

Are you talking about the painters who are showing up on my Google Place page? If so, those are not the painters I'm promoting. I'm actually still looking for the highest rated painters in St. Louis using Google, Judy's Book etc.

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Yes, that's exactly what I mean, the painters on your Google Place page. I wonder if that makes a positive difference with Google: they see this listing clearly about painters and painting businesses?
You raise another question for me: how do you go about finding these painters and how do you determine who the highest rated painters are?

Bob, just a quick note about my Google Place listing: Scottsdale Condo For Rent. I am showing up as number 2 or 3 in a list of 3 for Google search of Scottsdale Condos For Rent. Just noticed that I am #1 out 7 for Scottsdale Condo For Rent. That took me by surprise. I have also built a Wordpress website for the condo, under the domain name ScottsdaleCondosForRent.com. If you have the time, please check it out and let me know what you think. Would love your feedback. I hope it's okay to list the domain link here. If not okay, please do remove it or let me know, and I'll remove it. I love this site and wouldn't want to jeopardize my status here in any way.