u/Taxcp8

Small local salon in the Midwest here.

Someone contacted us saying a competitor hired a third party to attack our Google Business Profile. We have a full conversation showing our business was specifically targeted, plus written confirmation that legitimate five-star reviews were removed overnight.

We filed reports with Google. Since then, reviews are still dropping, and now new reviews from real customers are not showing up at all. It feels like our profile may have been restricted after repeated flagging activity.

We also have an evidence package matching each removed review to a real customer visit, including appointment/payment records.

Has anyone successfully gotten legitimate Google reviews reinstated after something like this? What worked? Was it Google support, legal escalation, GBP community forum, or something else?

We are not trying to game reviews. We just want legitimate customer reviews restored and our profile protected from ongoing abuse.

We’re a small local beauty salon and someone messaged our business on WhatsApp saying another person hired him for $700 to post negative reviews against us. He also said he could lower ratings and remove/suspend businesses from Google.

A few hours later, 38 of our legitimate positive Google reviews disappeared. Then he messaged us saying, “38 positive reviews remove from your business.” He also threatened that if we don’t answer, more will come.

We have screenshots, timestamps, and the WhatsApp conversation.

What’s the best way to handle this situation?

TIA!

Hey, I own a beauty salon and got approached by a Google Ads agency. They said they can do something they call “super targeting” where they can target people who are currently staying at nearby hotels and resorts, or people living in specific apartment complexes near my salon, and show them ads.
Has anyone heard of this or tried it for a local service business? Is this a real Google Ads feature or just regular location targeting rebranded? Worth paying an agency for it?