Have you ever woken up to a ton of messages and missed calls from your team asking you to check the company’s Google reviews? You drag your PJs to the desk, open your system, and find hundreds of one-star reviews that feel…oddly coordinated.
That’s a review bomb.
According to PowerReviews, 96% of consumers look specifically for negative reviews before deciding to make a purchase. Imagine them coming across a flood of negative comments about your product. The consequences can cripple your revenue and operations.
In this article, we’ll discuss how you can protect your brand reputation proactively and handle a review bomb crisis if one pops up.
What is a Review Bomb and How Does one Start?
Review bombs are sudden, large, and coordinated comments by a group of people. It is marked by a sharp spike in the number of negative reviews, often from consumers who have not used a product or service before.
Take Disney’s Snow White as an example. On IMDb, the movie, released on the 21st of March, sparked public outrage for various reasons, including its actors’ public PR, allegedly. In just a few days after its release, Snow White was bombarded with several one-star reviews, which dropped its rating down to 2.1 and made the movie rank 18th worst films of all time.
Interestingly, the majority of the reviews were from viewers who haven’t watched the movie.
Sometimes, review bombing can be by people who are currently using a product or service. For instance, in 2021, America’s Robinhood restricted trading of popular stocks like GameStop and AMC. Negative reviews spiked from outraged users on the Google Play Store and damaged the app’s rating.
From these two case studies, we see that review bombs can be:
- Reactive: Sparked by a recent event, decision, or PR issue
- Coordinated: Organized by online communities, forums, or even competitors
- Emotional: Driven by outrage, not genuine customer experience
And the consequence of an online review bomb is that:
- A sudden drop in your ratings can crush conversions
- Several bearish comments can hurt credibility
- Internet algorithms also leverage ratings in determining credibility. Low credibility hurts visibility
Note that every business is susceptible to review bombs, regardless of its size, industry, or reputation.
Building a Trust Shield Before Crisis Hits
There’s no definite predictive metric to know if a review bomb crisis will hit or not. And that’s why preparing for it proactively should be your leading strategy. Here’s how:
Collect positive, authentic reviews consistently
A report from G2 also shows consumers are 3.5x likely to endorse a brand after an excellent customer service experience. So, optimize your business to meet customer needs on all ends. This includes building a consistent service delivery and customer support system, providing clear communication channels, and resolving complaints quickly.
John Elarde III, Operations Manager at Clear View Building Services, says, “Once you’ve built a positive sentiment around your business, ask satisfied customers to drop a good comment. You can fast-track this by sending personalized emails or adding gentle review prompts on receipts or checkout pages. Don’t forget to appreciate them after.”
“The more positive and authentic reviews you have, the more difficult it is for review bombs to influence your overall rating or credibility. Long-term trust acts as an effective buffer against such attacks”, John continues.
For instance, one of the most reliable electrical contractors in the region, Bates Electric’s St. Louis location, demonstrates consistent service quality and has so far built over 1272 five-star reviews, thus making review bombs unlikely to succeed.
Maintain updated and verified profiles
Keeping your business profiles on platforms like Google and Yelp updated and verified helps to build trust with both customers and the platforms themselves.
Besides, a complete business profile makes it difficult for individuals with malicious intent to target your business. Verified profile also gives you access to platform-specific reporting and analytics tools, which can help in dealing with inappropriate reviews.
Take Robinhood’s review bomb as an example. The brand was quickly able to manage the spiking negative comments on its Play Store profile through reporting and working directly with Google to remove reviews that violated platform guidelines. However, that was only possible because Robinhood had a verified and credible profile with a positive record.
Continuous reputation monitoring
Review bombs are most times sudden and peak in a day or two, unlike in fair cases like Delta Force’s game release, which took users weeks or months to pull. That means you might not necessarily have enough time to “catch on later.”
If you want to nip such reviews in the bud, you need to know when they start. Typically, signs such as increased brand mentions, shifting audience sentiment, and a surge in product or service usage will emerge.
Utilize social listening and brand monitoring platforms like Agility PR Solutions to identify these activities early on.
Steps to Take When a Review’ Bomb Happens
The best step to handle a review crisis is to prevent one from happening. But when it does, here’s what to do:
1. Respond as early as possible
Ben Bouman, Business Owner at HeavyLift Direct, says, “There’s no industry-specific timing for responding to review bombs. However, this is not when you should hold a marathon meeting. Advisably, pull up your team and respond to as many negative comments within 24 hours. “
Each response tells other spectators that your brand is professional and committed to addressing concerns. Quick response can also prevent a narrative from spiraling out of control, more than it already has.
2. Prioritize calm, courteous, and factual responses
Review bombs can be particularly frustrating, especially when they stem from unfounded claims and coordinated malicious intent. However, you should keep all responses calm and factual. Lashing out only makes the situation worse.
Ensure that none of your team members release unaudited content during this period to minimize the risk of miscommunication or statements that can escalate the situation. Every response should go through a quick internal review process to maintain consistency in tone and accuracy.
3. Address genuine customer issues and report false or malicious reviews
If the crisis is a result of genuine customer concerns, address it as fast as possible and communicate your progress with the public. Your PR should be done in tandem with effective background resolution of the cause.
At the same time, log complaints with review or app platforms hosting your business and report inaccurate or malicious reviews. This will help mitigate the impact of such reviews on your rating and overall reputation.
4. Leveraging PR & customer advocacy
“While calming the situation through your business’s official handles on social media, engage other channels, like previously satisfied customers, to share their positive experiences online. You can also partner with respected industry leaders to advocate for you and help maintain brand image”, Adam Young, CEO and Founder at Event Tickets Center, advises.
The goal is to offer second opinions online to new or potential customers who may have been influenced by the surge of negative reviews.
5. Engage legal support if the content is defamatory or violates policy
If a review looks out of place and might be from malicious intent, you can file for legal support against the posters. However, you should only do this after careful consideration since legal engagement can be inflammatory and spark stronger outrage, especially in cases where the review bomb was due to your brand’s error.
Jeffrey Zhou, CEO and Founder of Fig Loans, says, “Preferably discuss this with your organization’s legal unit to know when and how to push for support or which baseline must be crossed before resolution becomes a legal fight. Baseline can be when false claims cause measurable financial harm or reputational damage that cannot be corrected through standard moderation.”
6. Review what triggered the incident and identify vulnerabilities
Lastly, determine what triggered the bomb. Remember, we said review bombs can be reactive, coordinated, or purely emotional. Categorize the crisis and devise a prompt resolution strategy for it. For instance, if it’s a public outrage as a result of an unintended miscommunication on your social media handle, take down the post and apologize.
If it’s due to a new product feature that doesn’t align with users’ needs, suspend it effectively for further review. Ensure your actions are swift to show your customers their voice matters.
Wrapping up
Review bombs can be devastating. However, you can minimize the risk of getting hit with one by providing good customer service and support. It’s also essential to build a trust shield around your brand, just in case. To do that, collect positive reviews to offset possible negative comments and update your business profiles to stave off malicious attacks.
In the event of a review bomb, ensure you respond as early as possible. Prioritize professional response in addressing the public, address their concerns, and leverage PR for advocacy. Also, engage legal support if necessary and address the initial trigger of the incident.
