By and large, Facebook reviews – including the negative ones – benefit your company. Fake reviews, meanwhile, are troublesome. While some are harmless pranks pulled by online trolls, others can be intentional and malicious. Regardless, they affect your reputation, thus necessitating an immediate response.
Before learning how to remove reviews from Facebook that could harm your business, find out the danger of spam reviews and why it’s imperative to address them.
Why a Facebook Spam Review Is Problematic
You need to know how to find spam messages on Facebook, especially reviews, to disassociate your brand from lies and deception. In more ways than one, it is worse than fake Facebook reviews meant to entice consumers to buy their products or services.
But before you learn how to remove a bad review on Facebook, you should understand why it is necessary to remove them.
1. Fake and Paid Positive Facebook Reviews
The goal of falsifying reviews is to manipulate public opinion. For instance, a high number of reviewers makes the public think there are many buyers. Moreover, the more positive reviews, the more the consumers believe they can trust the brand.
Unfortunately, some companies engage in deceptive practices. So, they either have individuals or pay a dubious third-party reputation management services provider to exchange monetary or material compensation for fake positive Facebook reviews.
2. Malicious Negative Facebook Reviews
Some reviewers intentionally leave negative reviews to ruin a brand’s reputation. While some spam on Facebook may be a prank, others could come from a disgruntled employee or dissatisfied customer who spewed scathing reviews as a form of retaliation. Another possibility to consider is a competitor trying to gain a competitive edge by instigating defamatory reviews against your brand.
An honest negative review, when appropriately managed, can be advantageous. But that is not the case with malicious, defamatory Facebook reviews. Consumers who discovered or visited your Facebook page to learn more about your business may look elsewhere after seeing the negatives associated with your brand.
3. Irrelevant Facebook Spam Reviews
As more businesses turn to social media, there is also a corresponding increase in the number of spam messages on Facebook.
“Facebook spam review has been prevalent in the past one or two years,” said Tim Clarke, Thrive’s Senior Reputation Manager.
“It is getting worse, but Facebook will take them down. We flag the spam ones for removal, and they go down within weeks. The most spam reviews now are about crypto scams.”
Above is an example of a spam review left on an online reputation management (ORM) provider’s Facebook page.
As you can see, the reviewer posted a cryptocurrency investment spam on Facebook Reviews. But, of course, these investments have nothing to do with the review monitoring services offered by the company. So while most people who see that review would assume it is a scam or spam message on Facebook, some may not.
Why Negative Reviews Can Be Beneficial
A question often asked is how to remove a bad review on Facebook. But, before doing that, understand that negative reviews could help you.
1. Helps Build Credibility
Companies never say anything negative about their products and services. Consumers, though, are well aware that there is no such thing as perfect. For this reason, a brand that has an unblemished excellent rating might come off as dubious.
“Consumers are generally cynical about reviews and probably even more on Facebook,” Clarke explained.
“Companies ask their friends or game the system, so people trust a 4.7 rather than a perfect 5. I prefer my best clients to have a few negative reviews, or it’s not realistic. Thrive has over a 4/5 but some negatives, so it’s very compelling and believable.”
It is most likely why, as PowerReviews found out in a survey, 82% of consumers seek negative reviews.
Image source: G2
Around 72% of consumers say that negative reviews provide more depth and insight, which helps them make a purchase decision. Almost 40% also said the presence of negative reviews makes a product more credible.
Consumers spend 5X more on a site if they interact with negative reviews, according to Reevoo. Not only do they trust the reviews more, but they are 85% more likely to convert. So, you may want to reconsider your decision to remove negative reviews.
2. Opportunity To Build Trust
Since more consumers today pay attention to negative reviews, brands should not only focus on how to remove Facebook reviews. Instead, use an online review management strategy to respond and demonstrate transparency and willingness to satisfy customer needs and expectations.
Consumers read negative reviews to know issues and problems that brands do not discuss openly. But more than that, they also want to see how a company responds to negative customer experiences. If they see a brand engaging and providing a solution, they feel that the company is responsible and cares for the customers. Hence, they trust the brand more and are likelier to buy.
Not all companies respond on social media and review sites. Either they ignore the issues, or they are not at all aware of complaints online. Regardless, consumers who see the negative reviews going unnoticed can only form one conclusion: The brand doesn’t care. This lack of initiative alone can turn prospects away.
How To Find Spam Messages on Facebook
Facebook is much more aggressive in removing spam messages and fake Facebook reviews. On June 20, 2022, they launched a new Community Feedback Policy in the United States.
Community Feedback, which includes reviews and recommendations, is a service aimed at helping consumers make trusted purchasing decisions. Using AI and a team of professionals, the company filters and takes down irrelevant, fraudulent and offensive feedback off Facebook platforms.
Even though Facebook has made tremendous strides with its spam filter service, they still get through. So the best way to find them is to monitor reviews and comments manually.
Companies may also use an online review management platform or hire a third-party online reputation management agency. These agencies provide review monitoring services, including finding negative posts, comments and reviews on various platforms.
How To Delete Reviews From Facebook
No spam filter service is perfect, which means you have to know how to remove reviews from Facebook. Unfortunately, there is no direct way of doing that. Instead, you need to flag them as spam. Facebook will review and take down the offending review if it violates their community standards.
Step-by-step procedures on how to remove Facebook reviews:
1. Click on the three dots on the upper right of the spam Facebook review, then click on the report post.
Note: If in case you cannot flag a review, it may be because the post does not have a comment. In this case, write one.
2. Choose why you are flagging the post, such as clicking on spam.
3. The last step is to click on the submit button.
What To Do While Waiting for Facebook To Remove Spam Review
Facebook does not immediately remove negative reviews after being reported. So, while waiting, there is one thing you can do. For irrelevant reviews like the one shown as an example, there is no need to reply as it does not directly harm your reputation.
As for fake and spam reviews, they pose threats to your reputation. Therefore, the best action to take is to treat them as if they are genuine negative reviews left by unhappy customers. Essentially, you are responding to them as if they are actual customers. After offering to resolve the issue, flag the spam review for Facebook to remove.
The idea of responding first and offering to help is to show the public that you are taking initiative and being responsible. After all, it may take Facebook days to remove a spam review. So during this time, you do not want to lose customers because of an unfairly negative impression about your brand.
How To Hide Reviews on Facebook
Some companies may not have access to reputation management services. So instead of spending time manually checking to see if there are new reviews on their Facebook page, they can choose to hide reviews on Facebook.
If your page has several four- and five-star reviews, it would be a pity to hide reviews on Facebook. In this case, you can temporarily disable Facebook Reviews until you or an online reputation management specialist can deal with them.
Step-by-step procedures on how to disable the Facebook page review section:
1. Go to your Facebook page as an administrator. Click on more, then “Manage sections.”
2. Scroll down, uncheck Reviews given, then save.
Keep in mind that disabling the review section does not delete the reviews.
Online Review Management Is Essential To Keep Spam Reviews Away
Unfortunately, Facebook’s AI spam filter service is not 100% reliable. Therefore, some people can still bypass the system and leave spam reviews. An agency providing reputation management services can help you ease the burden. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency, for instance, conducts review monitoring services and can quickly flag spam on Facebook for you.
For more information on managing your Facebook page and how to remove negative reviews, call contact us and request a free consultation.
