This morning I received an invitation from a company who “fixes” people’s poor online reviews (feel free to read the text of the letter below, minus the direct company references). The company held forth the promise to raise our ranking on Google by a variety of methods designed to eliminate, and obfusicate by drowning out the negative comments with a steady stream of their own positive reviews and links to alternate sites.

This is a classic technique, often used successfully to manipulate public opinion. It yields the appearance of “engagement” but it actually erodes the transparency and democracy* of the net (*albeit “democracy” is limited to those who can access the technology). The idea is to label the people who are speaking out about your product in unexpected ways as “negative” and then to promote other opinions to the forefront in order to drown out the “naysayers”. The result should be higher rankings and greater consumer confidence.

Well, it’s understandable. We don’t like online negative reviews either. They feel like a kick right in the gut. What makes it worse is that many times the reviewers are anonymous and they are un-reachable. We cannot find a way to contact them and engage them in a discussion of how we can all end up satisfied and happy! So, we’d much rather that people tell us directly what they are thinking and feeling about their experiences at Hernande’z.–these people are near to our hearts because they trust us to really listen and learn from them. And we do!  Connection to our patrons is the main reason that we are on social media, and why you can always reach one of us directly at all times via the Cashier station.

However, the world is such that not everybody will be willing to tell you what they think directly. And some of the greatest lessons that we’ve learned have come from those unexpected-kick-in-the-gut reviews.

Not all anonymous online reviews are negative either.

The happy reviews are wonderful! They keep us going. They motivate us to get back up when we falter or when we are so tired we just don’t even want to think anymore. They remind us who we are and that at the end of all the work, there is a great deal of appreciation and love.

And yet, it’s those other reviews that give us the opportunity to develop. They force us to question ourselves, our processes, our assumptions and our decisions. Sometimes we make changes and sometimes we just have to sigh and realize that we cannot be loved by everybody. Even that is an important lesson–especially when you are serving your heart on every plate!

Nevertheless, this offering represents a deliberate act of sabotage against the inherent transparency and connectivity of this medium. It threatens to erode community and replace it with false commodification for the cynical purpose of driving sales.

It is a bit tragic that any business owner would choose to miss out on all of the bounties that await them in the world of unexpected reviews. It’s a bit like trying to hide from, rather than facing your demons. In ancient mythology, the demon always leaves a vital gift for the hero who is willing to face him. And we always need to remember that it is better not to try to silence Cassandra.

Google is now using business reviews to determine business ranking. A search for your business shows at least one negative review.

We can help you.

How does posting positive reviews help in your businesses Google ranking?

1. Positive reviews increase your business rank by linking important and relevant websites to your website.
2. A constant stream of positive reviews improves your online reputation.
3. Positive reviews drive traffic to your business.
4. Positive reviews restore a tarnished reputation by pushing down negative reviews and links.
5. Helps protect against competitors or anyone else from attempting to run your ranking

Tired of review sites? Hire us to knock them off the front page of Google under your search term.
Our company has been in the business of taking over the first page of google for our clients for 8 years and knocking off complaint sites. We can do the same for your company and review sites.
We will create special websites and blogs and link them to the 15 thousand websites we already have.  These websites will knock the review sites away and replace them with content you control.