Online review management is the systematic handling of a company's ratings in search, on maps and on comparison sites. For small businesses it is one of the strongest factors in customer decision-making, and at the same time an area where most mistakes are made. A review cannot be ordered removed – platforms only remove content that breaches their rules, that is profanity, personal data, clearly false claims or a rating from a person who was never a customer. That is what reporting with evidence is for, not deletion. A public reply is far more effective: factual, without emotion, acknowledging the problem and offering a solution outside the public discussion. It is read not by its author, but by the next hundred people. Equally important is actively gathering reviews from satisfied customers, so that an isolated negative experience does not dominate the profile.
See also: Corporate crisis communication, Company marketing budget, Trademark in advertising.
