How to Write an Anonymous Google Review in 2024

As a business owner, you likely already know the importance of reviews. But you likely also have a few questions about reviews—how to leave them, how to delete them, how to respond to them, etc. One question we hear often is: Is it possible to leave an anonymous Google review and if so, how is it done? The short answer is that you can’t. Google has not allowed anonymous reviews since 2018.

There’s a very logical explanation as to why Google has disabled anonymous reviews, and that is: To protect businesses. If anonymous reviews were allowed, nothing would stop an unscrupulous business from leaving fake negative reviews of its competitors or asking friends to do so.

Why Do Google Reviews Matter?

Google reviews are crucial for any business, as they help your reputation, attract new customers, and even boost your SEO. In fact, 72% of consumers report that positive reviews increase their trust in a local business.

Overall, Google reviews:

• Increase trust in your brand
• Improve your online reputation
• Boost your local SEO
• Give you insight into the customer experience, helping you improve
• Boost click-through rates to your website
• Influence decisions and purchases
• Boost your conversions

Can Businesses Delete Their Google Reviews?

A business cannot delete a Google review, but you can initiate the process for its removal. The process involves flagging the post, so Google will remove it. This ability lets you ensure that your Google business profile doesn’t have fake or spam reviews.

Importantly, you can only flag a review if it violates Google’s policies. You can’t flag negative reviews just because you don’t like them. Fake reviews violate Google’s policies, so you can use this flagging process to delete Google reviews that are fabricated. In addition to flagging a fake review, you can also flag an inappropriate review. 

To flag a review, just click on the review in question. Then, choose “flag as inappropriate.” The exact location of these buttons will vary depending on whether you are on Google Search, Google Maps, or logged into your business account.

Expect it to take at least a few days for Google to assess and remove flagged reviews. 

Why Google Reviews Can’t Be Anonymous

While anonymous Google reviews are not allowed, there’s a way to go around it. You can leave a review without including your real name.

Change Your Name on Google

The simplest method is to change your first and last name on your Google account. You can remove the last name completely, change your first name to a nickname, or even change your name to “Anonymous.”

But there’s a very important caveat here. If you leave a review without your real name, the business you’re reviewing can flag it. If Google agrees that the review isn’t legitimate or violates its terms, the review will be removed.

Another important fact is that even if you use the above method to change your Google profile name, Google will see your IP address. So, this won’t make you fully anonymous.

How to Leave a Review Without a Google Account

It is also worth noting that you can leave a review on a Google business profile without a Gmail or Google account. Businesses should make sure that their customers know this, as it will significantly increase your reviews. You can also turn this method into a way to semi-anonymously leave a review. Just create a free or even temporary email address to use when writing a review.

To leave a review without a Google account, do the following:

1. Open Google Maps.
2. Navigate to the business’s page by searching for it.
3. Write a review.
4. When prompted to sign into your Google account, scroll down further and select “Create account.” Enter your temporary email address.

Google Review FAQs

Google reviews are useful not just for businesses but also for consumers, as customer experience is a big factor when considering a purchase. There are many helpful features to using Google reviews. So before you start maximizing the feature, here are answers to the most common questions.

How Do You Leave a Google Review?

We already covered the process for leaving a Google review if you don’t have a Google account. The process is similar for those with Google accounts. The difference is that you can leave a review via Google Maps or Google Search.

The process is as follows:

1. Navigate to Google and search for the business in question.
2. Click on the reviews in Google Maps or click on the business listing and scroll down to the reviews.
3. Click on “Write a Review.”
4. Before you can post your review, you will need to sign in. If you aren’t already logged into your Google account, do so. You can also click “Create account” to enter a different email address.
5. Once you are signed in, you can fill out the review and leave a star rating. A star rating is required, but the review is optional.
6. Select “Post.”

On Mobile

If you are using a smartphone, the process is pretty similar:

1. Make sure you are signed into your Google account.
2. Search for the business.
3. Click the “Reviews” tab of the business.
4. Select “Rate and review” under the summary.
5. Leave a star rating.
6. Write your review.
7. Add photos.
8. Select “Post.”

Through Google Maps

1. Open Google Maps when logged into your Google account.
2. Search for the business.
3. Scroll to view the result on the full screen. If there are multiple locations, select the one you want to review.
4. Select the “Reviews” tab.
5. Leave a star rating, write a review, and post photos.
6. Select “Post.”

Do You Need a Gmail to Make a Google Review?

As mentioned, you don’t need a Gmail account to make a Google review. When it prompts you to sign in, just choose “Create account” and enter your email address.

What Can I Do About Negative Reviews?

If you can’t flag or remove a negative review of your local businesses, what can you do? You could try encouraging customers to delete their negative reviews or change them. But they are unlikely to do this without a good reason. 

The better option is to reach out to the customer to resolve the issues behind their bad reviews. If you can fix the problem, they may delete or update the review. At the very least, it will show others that you care about customers and want to correct poor experiences. 

Can Reviewers Delete Their Reviews?

While businesses can’t delete reviews, the reviewer can. Deleting and editing a review you have written will follow a similar process.

1. Navigate to the Google Maps application on your smartphone.
2. Tap on “Contribute” and “View your profile.”
3. Scroll, and then select “See all reviews.”
4. Find the review you want to delete or edit. Tap “More” with the three dots next to it.
5. Select “Delete review” or “Edit review” and follow the prompts.

Start Gathering Reviews with Podium

Now that you know you can’t leave a Google review anonymously and the importance of positive reviews, how can you encourage your customers to leave reviews? In many cases, you can simply ask customers to leave reviews after doing business with you. This is especially true if they have a positive experience. Most customers would be willing to share good feedback, whether public or anonymous reviews. 

Podium makes it simple to ask your customers to leave anonymous reviews or reviews with their Google user name. They will receive a link that directs them to the exact business page so that they can easily leave a review. Sending a review link straight to your customers increases the chances of gathering even more reviews for your business. 

Ready to try it out? Start a free 14-day trial today.