Reviews are still the thing that decides whether a stranger calls you or the business down the road. That hasn't changed. What has changed is the rulebook around how you're allowed to get them, and a lot of small businesses are running review tactics that used to be normal and are now either against Google's policy or against federal law.
This isn't theoretical. The Federal Trade Commission's rule banning fake and deceptive reviews took effect on October 21, 2024, with civil penalties that can reach $51,744 per violation. Google, separately, has tightened its own review policies and has been removing reviews that violate them more aggressively. The result is that a tactic that feels harmless, like asking only your happy customers, can now get reviews wiped out or worse.
Here are the five that catch small business owners most often.
To be clear about what this is: general information, not legal advice. The FTC rule (effective October 21, 2024) and Google's review policies are real and verifiable, but how they apply to your specific situation is a question for an attorney. The point here is to flag the common practices that have quietly become risky so you can stop doing them.
The Five That Get Businesses in Trouble
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Review gating: only asking happy customers This is the big one because almost everyone does it. You ask for a review only after you can tell the customer is pleased, or you route unhappy customers to a private feedback form and happy ones to Google. The FTC rule treats this kind of selective suppression of honest negative reviews as deceptive. Ask everyone, or ask no one. You cannot filter for only the good ones.
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Incentivized reviews tied to a positive rating Offering a discount, a gift card, or an entry into a drawing in exchange for a review is risky, and it crosses the line clearly when the reward is conditioned on leaving a positive review. If a customer believes they only get the perk for five stars, that's exactly what the rule prohibits.
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AI-generated or fake review text Writing reviews yourself, having staff write them, or using AI to generate review text and posting it as if from real customers is banned outright. Google can detect patterns in this, and the FTC rule specifically covers fake and AI-generated reviews. This includes buying reviews from a service.
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Insider reviews without disclosure Reviews from employees, family, or anyone with a material connection to the business, posted without disclosing that relationship, are prohibited. Asking your team to leave five stars to "get things started" is the exact practice the rule targets.
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On-premises pressure: kiosks, tablets, and quotas Google's policies discourage soliciting reviews in bulk at the point of sale, like handing customers a tablet to review you on the spot, and asking customers to mention a specific employee's name to hit a quota. These setups produce review spikes that look manufactured, and Google has been removing reviews that come from them.
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The good news is that the compliant way to collect reviews is also the way that builds the most durable reputation. You don't need gating or incentives. You need a consistent ask to every customer.
Here's the simple version. After every job or visit, send the same review request to every customer, not just the ones you think are happy. Make it easy with a direct link. Keep the message neutral: "Thanks for your business. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate an honest review." No filtering, no reward for a specific rating, no script. Then respond to every review you get, positive and negative, professionally. That steady, honest flow is what Google rewards and what the FTC rule is fine with.
Why This Matters More in a Small Market
In a small Minnesota market, your reviews are a bigger share of your reputation than they would be in a big city, because there's less else for a customer to go on. That cuts both ways. It means honest reviews are powerful for you, and it means a sudden batch of reviews that Google flags and removes can knock out a chunk of your credibility overnight.
Plenty of owners have logged in to find reviews gone and no explanation. Usually it traces back to one of the five practices above. The businesses that build reviews slowly, honestly, and consistently don't have that problem, and they end up with a more believable profile anyway. Forty real, varied reviews read as more trustworthy than forty glowing ones that all showed up the same week.
If you're not sure whether your current process is clean, that's worth checking before Google checks it for you.
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