How to leave an anonymous Google review?

Google ranking without registration: does it work?

Customers would like to rate your business, but there’s an obstacle: to leave a Google review, they need to sign in to Google. So there’s no way to leave anonymous Google reviews. However, some customers, especially iPhone users, don’t have a Google account or don’t log in automatically. Then you get this message, which usually results in the customer not rating:

How can these customers still write Google review – without registering? Unfortunately, the answer is that Google My Business reviews are only possible through Google accounts. You have to be logged in to Google to leave a review. It’s not possible to leave anonymous reviews. Google probably won’t change that, either. This is the only way to limit the number of fake or negative reviews. Ultimately, it also has advantages for your business: someone who wants to harm your company cannot flood you with hundreds of negative reviews.

So, as a consumer, I wouldn’t trust a platform where the rating is completely anonymous. This is why almost all rating platforms probably require a user account on the relevant platform and don’t allow leaving anonymous review.
There is a way to rate online shops on Google without registration and anonymously. This is a separate system: Google customer reviews. This Google product is only relevant for online shops. The reviews collected there are also not shown in local search, but only help with Google Shopping ads. Google can ensure that no Schindluder works with fake reviews by integrating it into the shopping system.

What to do with customers who don’t have a Google account?

First: you can’t make all customers rate you on Google, anyway. And that’s fine. Usually, it’s enough if only a fraction of satisfied customers rate a business to change the rating. So as many customers as possible should be reminded of the ranking.

However, it’s a shame, of course, if you have satisfied customers who are willing to write a review publicly and end up not doing so because they don’t have a Google account. That’s why we’ll show you some alternatives on what you can do with these customers:

1. Encourage customers to open a Google account

iPhone’s users almost always do not have a Google account. Android users almost always have a Google account, as Android cannot be used without an account. Only 20% of Europeans have an iPhone. The rest use Android (we ignore the 1% with other systems for simplicity). However, depending on the industry, the proportion of iPhone users can be disproportionately high.

If you ask your customer to leave a Google review, you can directly show them how easy it is to open an account there. Help from Google itself “How to create a Google account” or a video showing how to create an account in 5 minutes: Create a Google account for iPhone for free. Ultimately, the customer also benefits with a Google account if they use one of the many Google services (YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome…).

Another incentive for the customer to make an effort can be participation in ReviewForest. 

​​2. Switch to other platforms

Maybe the client doesn’t have a Google account and doesn’t want one. But what about a Facebook account?

If your aim is to be found better through reviews and to look good in a search by potential customers, Google reviews are the most important. But customer reviews on other platforms, such as Tripadvisor or Facebook, also help with search positioning and will also show up in a search for your business. Even if not as prominently. Ultimately, however, a Facebook or Tripadvisor review is definitely better than none at all.

Conclusion 

Rating on Google, including Google Maps, only works with a Google user account. >80% of German mobile phone users have a Google account.

It’s OK if not every customer rates their own business. It’s the quantity that counts.Show customers how quick and easy it is to create a Google account. Create incentives without violating Google’s guidelines (no money, sweepstakes or vouchers!).Preferably ask customers to rate on Google. However, a Facebook rating is still better than none at all.