How to leave a google review without your name

Any Google user can leave a review of a company; there doesn’t need to be an invitation; the Google reviews feature is there for anyone to use.

While Google my business can be a great new feature for businesses because it has been shown, positive reviews can increase sales.

However, there are many companies, which receive less than glowing reviews, or there are the individuals who wish to leave anonymous reviews on Google my business without leaving their names.

Here in this guide, you can find the answers to all these questions and more. If you want to know how to write a Google review without a Gmail account, you can learn that, and if you are a business, you can learn the smart way to deal with bad reviews. [Read the Business Owners Guide to Local SEO]

How Do I Hide My Name on Google Reviews?

It should be noted before heading off that you may find some Google services may not work without you signing up for a Gmail account or Google account. Google maps are one of the most common.

However, it is possible to hide your name if you follow these steps. You will find you are not hiding your name as such, you are signing up for a Google account without creating a Gmail account, and being a different Google user.

Here is how to leave a Google review by using a new name rather than your main account.

1. If you have a Google account already, sign out
2. Open your browser in incognito mode or private browsing mode [this doesn’t hide everything]
3. Any Google service you try to open will ask you to sign in
4. Here, you need to create an account using your current email address and not Gmail [create a burner email address or Gmail alternative, Proton Mail a good option]
5. Fill in your name or any alias you wish to use
6. Add a password and confirm
7. Click next and verify the email with the sent code
8. Click verify

From here, you can post anonymous Google review that will show your alias rather than your real name. You do, however, need to sign in every time in incognito mode to leave anonymous reviews, and not from your primary account.

One other option you can add to offer more anonymity is to use a VPN service. You can use this through the sign-up process, so the Google sign up procedure will think you are in a different location, as well as leave your anonymous reviews.

Can a Google Review Be Traced?

Anyone who leaves online reviews can have their IP traced by people who have the capability. Google will know your IP when leaving anonymous reviews, and your ISP will see because they retain all your online activity for 2-years in Australia.

If you use a VPN, you can mask your real IP address, as your location will be spoofed by selecting another VPN server outside the country.

Can You Block Someone from Leaving a Google Review?

Google reviews are there to enable the public to voice their opinions, so they can post a review on Google my business, or for other services.

For this reason, it isn’t generally accepted, any business can manipulate reviews to serve their purposes, or anyone leave anonymous reviews.

You will see that in no area does Google offer the chance to delete Google reviews, and thus if a business receives poor Google reviews, then they are there for others to see.

However, there is an option for a business to flag any business reviews they think go against the Google review guidelines. If you flag any reviews, then this goes back to Google who will then consider any moderation.

A couple of things that are worth noting here is that getting a full range of 5-star business reviews may not be as vital as you think them to be.

• Over half of buyers trust products that come with a few negative reviews
• One-third of online consumers understand many online reviews are fake, especially if there are nearly zero negatives
• Buyers are less concerned with negative reviews now than they used to be

If you wish to highlight any particular negative or anonymous reviews, the only way you can go to block it is by flagging the said review.

1. Log in to your Google My Business account
2. Select the location of your business and click on ‘Reviews’
3. Find the review in question and then click on the three dots to open the menu on the right
4. Select ‘Flag as inappropriate’

One issue crops up when you get a one-star review with no comment. Such a review can still find its way onto a Google My Business page without violating any policy.

One tactic any business can take with negative reviews is to respond to it. Many consumers are not expecting a reply. In some instances, the consumer may do nothing to change their review, however some will.

Besides, a business can reply by stating they think the negative review is fake; this is the right approach if there is no record of any person making a purchase. While others can see your response, it can help Google decide to remove this review.

Conclusion

It can be favourable for any business to embrace their new reviews, although there does come a time when they need to take action. One of the best is being engaged and reacting to both new positive reviews, as well as negative ones.

Suppose you need to leave reviews, which won’t flag as being fake or overly negative. Using the VPN, option to mask your location and creating a new account using another Gmail alternative is the best way you can achieve this.

Read more: 7 Local Online Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

As of May 28, 2018, it is no longer possible to post anonymous Google reviews. In addition, Google has deleted all previously-posted anonymous reviews.

This change represents a larger shift in the landscape by Google and other review platforms. We’ll discuss how Google’s policies have changed, what this means for you, and how businesses and customers can both benefit from this change.  

Here’s what you’ll find in this article.

Before we get started, want to discover how your business can climb the ranks and get more visibility on Google? In this 20-minute audio guide, learn everything you need to know about reviews, SEOs, review collection strategies, and ways for encouraging customers who had a negative experience with an edit. Let’s dive right in! In this audio guide, you’ll have a clearer understanding of 5 easy tips that will help ensure customer satisfaction as well as increase the likelihood of collecting positive feedback from clients so they’re incentivized enough to leave good reviews when prompted by businesses like yourself.

Anonymous Google Reviews – A Short History

Anonymous Reviews Before 2018

Some of you might remember a time when it was easy to leave a review of any business without leaving any personal information. There was no sign-in or authentication required. On some platforms, you could leave a review with a fake name like “Mickey Mouse” without a problem.  

Though it might feel like ancient history, it really wasn’t too long ago. Prior to 2013, Google allowed all users to leave anonymous reviews. This format was problematic. Competitors could hypothetically leave dozens of fake reviews on a rival’s page. Business owners wouldn’t know where these reviews were coming from.

In 2013, Google decided to make the process of leaving anonymous reviews subject to more regulation. This was partially a response to complaints by business owners.

Anonymous reviews were still allowed, but the process of leaving one was harder than before. In order to post anonymous reviews, customers were required to use Google+. Anonymous reviews appeared posted as “A Google User” on Google My Business profiles.

Since the primary account was connected to Google, there was somewhat more accountability than the previous system. Still, business owners would often have no idea if the person who left the review was a real customer.

Last year, anonymous Google reviews officially became a thing of the past. Google now requires reviewers to show a name when leaving feedback.

Are Other Platforms Shifting Away from Anonymous Reviews?

Google isn’t the only review platform that has decided to shift away from anonymous reviews. Almost every review platform is taking steps to ensure that reviews are coming from real customers.

At Birdeye, our review policies have followed a similar trajectory to Google’s. Birdeye profiles, which display local business reviews from all over the Internet, once allowed customers to submit reviews without leaving a name.

In the past year, we’ve launched new features in order to ensure authenticity in our reviews. We now require user authentication with a Google or Facebook login. We’ve also introduced tighter review content relevance requirements and enhanced spam and slander detection algorithms. These are all part of our attempts to make sure that businesses and customers can be sure that every review that they look at is based on a real experience.

It’s not just Google and it’s not just Birdeye. The entire review ecosystem is transitioning away from the anonymous review model. The reason for this change can be summed up in two words: trust economy.

What is the Trust Economy?

Trust Economy Defined

So what do anonymous reviews have to do with the trust economy? First, let’s take a step back and talk about what the trust economy is.

In the trust economy, customers make transactions with businesses and institutions that they feel comfortable dealing with. Maybe you heard good things about a certain restaurant from one of your friends. You check out the restaurant because you trust your friend’s judgment.

Nowadays, review platforms make it easier for customers to trust businesses they haven’t tried before. You’re comfortable getting into a stranger’s car because you can see his reviews on Uber. You try out a new barbershop after seeing great reviews on Google.

The trust economy is not a new concept. It’s as old as business itself. The exchange of goods and services has always required an underlying foundation of trust. Customers have traditionally done their best to avoid businesses with bad reputations.

In the age of online reviews, customers can gauge a business’s reputation more easily than ever. A business’s reputation is now easily accessible for anyone, not just by those lucky enough to hear about previous customer experiences through word-of-mouth.

That’s not all that has changed. Businesses also have direct access to customer opinion. When a customer leaves a negative review, businesses can use this as constructive feedback and improve their overall customer experience. The trust economy allows businesses to turn feedback into action.

In the early days of the review ecosystem, it was easy for anybody to leave a review. Review platforms wanted to make leaving a review easy for anybody, but that came at a cost: the integrity of the system.  

Anonymous reviews made the whole review ecosystem harder to trust. Customers didn’t know if the reviews they were reading reflected real experiences. Businesses didn’t know if the reviews they were reading were from real customers.

For the trust economy to function properly, customers need to be able to trust reviews. Customers will only trust online reviews if it’s clear the reviews are authentic and represent an unbiased view of the business. Trustworthy reviews benefit both businesses and customers, which is why preserving an authentic review ecosystem is important.  

When you see reviews that have been left by “A Google User”, it’s harder to trust that review over one with a real name. With anonymous reviews, the foundation of the entire trust economy is eroded.

More importantly, businesses cannot effectively respond to feedback if it’s left from an anonymous reviewer. When a business cannot see the name of a customer, they cannot reach out and make attempts to understand the complaint and solve the problem.

Ending anonymous Google reviews wasn’t the only policy change that Google made last year. In April 2018, Google officially ended the practice of “review gating”. This is when businesses selectively request reviews from customers who they are sure will leave a positive review.

Just like anonymous reviews, review gating went against the foundations of the trust economy.  Review gating could lead to a positive bias towards reviews. If reviews were biased, then customers not trust them.

Because of Google’s new review gating policy, businesses need to make an effort to ask all customers for feedback, not just a select group. It’s now prohibited for businesses to offer incentives, such as discounts, to customers who leave a review. After all, these practices motivate customers to leave positive reviews, not unbiased reviews.

Why You Should Support the Trust Economy

Why we all need to make sure the trust economy is functioning properly.

The transition to the trust economy does come with a few setbacks. Yes, it’s a little bit more difficult for customers to leave reviews. Yes, businesses are being forced to change old practices like offering incentives for customers to leave reviews. Some people might be complaining about these changes.

In the big picture, this shift towards the trust economy is a good thing for both consumers and business owners. Research shows that 92% of customers look at reviews before making a purchase decision. Google’s policy changes have allowed these customers to have more trust in these reviews than ever before.

A trustworthy review ecosystem allows businesses to collect real insights from real customers. Now when a business sees a negative review on their Google My Business page, they can reach out to the customer and prevent the same problem from happening again. This would have been a lot harder to do before last year when customers still had the option to leave anonymous reviews.

What the End of Anonymous Reviews Means for Businesses

The end of anonymous reviews is just one part of a much larger shift. To win in the trust economy, businesses need to stay on top of feedback and maintain customer trust. Here are a couple of things you can do to stay ahead of the curve.

Send automated review request emails or texts to all your customers.

Since review gating is now prohibited by Google’s policies, you need to ask all of your customers for reviews. With Birdeye’s automated review requests, you can send a text or email to your customers as soon as they have left the building.

Automated review requests allow you to collect genuine, authentic customer reviews. It’s true that you might get a negative review here and there, but don’t panic. Studies show that customers trust businesses with some negative reviews more than businesses with all positive reviews.

Send your customers customized review requests with Birdeye.

Use customer surveys to collect authentic feedback.

In the trust economy, businesses need to collect feedback from their customers to ensure that their business is providing the best customer experience possible. Birdeye allows businesses to do this with automated NPS surveys.

NPS surveys allow you to how customers are ranking your business on a 0-10 scale. Your “promoters” will rank your business as a 9 or 10, while passives rank it as a 7 or 8 and detractors rank it as a 0 to 7. You have the option of directly asking detractors how they think the customer experience can be improved.

At Birdeye, we are strong supporters of the trust economy. We are dedicated to preserving an authentic review ecosystem for both businesses and customers.

Using Birdeye, businesses can get authentic reviews from customers and use this feedback to improve customer experience. Customers can be sure that the reviews that help them make purchase decisions reflect genuine experiences. Everybody wins.

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