What’s with google asking everyone to leave a review?

[Morticia]

I guess I didn’t realize this was happening. I thought I needed to set something up, but that’s not the case. Gomez got a new phone. He went out this morning and got a text message asking him how he liked his breakfast at the b&b he just drove away from!

I don’t like that! I don’t ask guests for reviews and I don’t appreciate it happening without my consent.

Is there a way to get that turned off? Maybe some people realize it’s just google doing that everywhere they go, but maybe they think WE’RE tracking their movements!

 

[Arks]

Every place I visit leads to a request for a Google review now.
"How did you like McDonald's?"
"Can you tell us about [my inn name]?"
"Can you answer some questions about Walmart?"

Every day, I get 2 or 3 requests from Google for reviews or answers to questions like, does this place have free parking? Is this location handicapped accessible?

They know the location from your phone. Interestingly, since I've answered all their questions about my inn, now it's just click bait. If I agree to answer questions about my inn, they present questions about some other business in town. Sneaky, they are.

 

[JimBoone]

Haven’t experienced that “yet”, I would expect it to be a setting in the individual phone that needed to be changed. You should be able to limit location sharing.

 

[Roxanne Trees]

I hadn't heard of this either. I guess having a flip phone that I almost never use does have its perks.

 

[Como Depot]

I have 2 phones, with different settings for this sort of thing, the one I use basically as a home phone does this, so if I am travelling and have that with me I get the messages.

 

[Eugee]

Almost all of these sites- Tripadvisor, Google etc have built content and advertising revenues off the back of businesses like ours and at near zero cost to themselves . They should pay businesses -something- for the content they provide from their guests or services for benefit to Google, Tripadvisor etc beyond a free listing to get those reviews.
(Rant completed )

 

[Morticia]

Gomez turned that tracking feature off on his phone, as I assume a lot of people have done. That doesn’t mean his phone is not being tracked, but he’s no longer being notified. I want it turned off at the source! Which is probably not possible.

 

[GoodScout]

Apple phones have a setting (it's now the default with OS 14) that blocks ad trackers. Google, Facebook and the other have been railing at Apple about it, but it just makes me want to remain one of their customers.

 

[FHI2426]

I guess I didn’t realize this was happening. I thought I needed to set something up, but that’s not the case. Gomez got a new phone. He went out this morning and got a text message asking him how he liked his breakfast at the b&b he just drove away from!

I don’t like that! I don’t ask guests for reviews and I don’t appreciate it happening without my consent.

Is there a way to get that turned off? Maybe some people realize it’s just google doing that everywhere they go, but maybe they think WE’RE tracking their movements!

Why wouldnt you ask guests for a review? Best way to zoom to top of rankings

 

[Morticia]

Why wouldnt you ask guests for a review? Best way to zoom to top of rankings

I think people have review fatigue. I know I’m sick of being asked to review everything. And, our guests just are not reviewers. In fifteen years, even with asking for reviews for about ten of those years, we still don’t get enough reviews to meet TripAdvisor’s minimum number to get a yearly certificate.

 

[Arks]

I think people have review fatigue. I know I’m sick of being asked to review everything. And, our guests just are not reviewers. In fifteen years, even with asking for reviews for about ten of those years, we still don’t get enough reviews to meet TripAdvisor’s minimum number to get a yearly certificate.

Same here. People are sick of being bothered with review requests, and most won't comply, so I stopped asking for reviews a few years ago. And when I did ask, it was only at the bottom of a "thank you for your stay" followup email.

Basically, the ones who love the place and the ones who have a gripe will sometimes leave a review, and the vast middle of the road won't bother. My greatest fear with the follow up emails was that I'd spur a review from someone who had a gripe and didn't tell me, and wouldn't have bothered posting their gripe if I hadn't asked for it (and provided a TA link)!

 

[Morticia]

Just wanted to add that this place has been open for 35 years. In the 20 years that TripAdvisor has been doing reviews, we’ve gotten 200. That just meets the low end requirement for getting the TA badge, but most years we get 3-4 reviews. Some years we got 15-20, but that was at the beginning when it was fun.

 

[FHI2426]

We get 10-20 reviews a month in total across all sources and it's a major factor why people pick us because our reviews are so positive. We are surrounded in urban area by chain hotels, so we get a lot of guests who normally would stay in a chain hotel...

 

[Morticia]

We get 10-20 reviews a month in total across all sources and it's a major factor why people pick us because our reviews are so positive. We are surrounded in urban area by chain hotels, so we get a lot of guests who normally would stay in a chain hotel...

Yup, that will never happen here. Our guests are mostly 60+ years old and introverts. We do a big biz in introverts. Even the ‘kids’ who come here for our special packages never leave reviews. It’s ok, we’ve accepted it.

 

[Arks]

We get 10-20 reviews a month in total...

Good for you! That was not anywhere near my own experience, back when I asked for reviews. But I was very passive with it, just asking at the bottom of an email.

 

[JimBoone]

We may get a few reviews a month, I don’t bug guests, but do request/encourage a review in our follow up email. Like FHI2426 it is a big help getting mom & pop noticed among the giants. Unlike Mort, I seem to get more from older folks than our younger winter visitors, but then that’s more our market.

 

[Northern Dreamer]

We've actually had a number of guests asking this year where they can leave reviews...and that's even after they've signed the guest book and told us personally. We send out an end of season message to everyone who stayed that year. We usually nab a few great raves. Always nice to have a couple newer, current ones on the sites!

 

[Anon Inn]

Our guests are mostly 60+ years old and introverts. We do a big biz in introverts. Even the ‘kids’ who come here for our special packages never leave reviews. It’s ok, we’ve accepted it.

I don't ask for TA reviews like a did a few years ago. Google places so much higher now, but I still do the ask for Google or TA reviews in the follow up email. Sometimes I ask for a TA on their way out the door. I don't get enough TAs per year to get the certificate anymore. Kind of miss those.

 

[Generic]

I haven't ask for a TA review in years. They ruined their own business.

 

[Morticia]

Interesting. We went out for lunch on Tuesday. We had to wait at the corner for the light to cross the street. Yup, Gomez got a request to review the place we stood in front of while waiting for the traffic to clear.