Short answer
A restaurant can get a Google or Yelp review taken down when the review breaks that platform's published content policy. Reputation Medics files the case for $397 per Google review and $697 per Yelp review. Pay upfront. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, the removal fee is automatically refunded.
Yes, when the review breaks a published platform policy. A truthful account from a real customer stays up, however harsh it reads. Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
$397 per Google review, $697 per Yelp review, and $497 per harmful link on another site. One price per item, no retainer. Pay upfront. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, the removal fee is automatically refunded.
Reviews that map to a published policy: a reviewer who was never a customer, a competitor or former employee, off-topic content, private details about staff, prohibited language, or specific factual claims your records contradict.
Filing happens after payment and onboarding details are received. The 30-day window in the refund term is the clock that matters: if the specific item is still up after 30 days, that removal fee comes back automatically. Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
On the typical job job type, a $2,500 job at a 4.3% gross margin is $107 of gross profit. That is the arithmetic on a single job, using the cited benchmarks below.
The start form takes a few minutes if you have these four things in front of you. Nothing else is required to open the case. The full list is below.
Gross profit is the job value multiplied by the gross margin in the same row. Nothing is projected. Every job value, close rate, and margin below is cited in the sources at the end of this page.
| Job type | Average job value | Close rate | Gross margin | Gross profit per job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical jobBlended benchmark for this trade. | $2,500 | 30% | 4.3%1.1% – 4.3% | $107 |
Run your own numbers on the Restaurants revenue calculator.
Every case cites a documented policy violation. If the review maps to none of these, we say so before you pay.
Not a real customer
The reviewer never bought from you. Wrong business, a competitor, or someone repeating a story they were told.
Conflict of interest
A competitor, a former employee, or anyone with a stake in making the rating drop.
Off-topic content
A complaint about something other than the work you did, or a rant about an unrelated dispute.
Personal information
Names of staff, phone numbers, addresses, or other private details the platforms prohibit.
Hate speech, threats, profanity
Language that breaks the platform's prohibited-content rules regardless of whether the visit happened.
Defamatory or provably false claims
Specific factual assertions about the job that your records contradict.
The crisis card above cites the Harvard finding of a 9 percent revenue swing per Yelp star. Diners decide in the time it takes to scroll a map. The rating filters the list, the newest review and the top photo decide the table.
The map scroll
Diners open the map, look at ratings, and tap the one with the best recent photo and no fresh one-star in the preview. A single visible complaint about food poisoning or a hair in the dish loses the tap before the menu is opened.
The safety accusation
Food poisoning and cleanliness claims are the reviews people remember and repeat. Many come from diners who ate several places that day, and some from people who never ate with you at all. Both are worth reporting when the review describes a visit that did not happen.
The named-server attack
Reviews that name a server or manager and accuse them of racism, theft or drunkenness spread through local groups and follow the employee. Unsupported accusations against a named individual are a harassment matter under platform rules.
Nothing here is a promise of removal, because that decision belongs to the platform. This is the sequence and the timing the platforms themselves publish, plus the day the fee refunds if the item is still up.
Day 0 · Free scan and eligibility read
We pull the live review or page from Google and Yelp and TripAdvisor, quote it verbatim, and say which policy it breaks. If nothing breaks a rule we say so and take no fee.
Days 1-3 · Filing with the reservation record
Where no booking, ticket or check exists for the reviewer, that goes in first. Where the complaint is about something the venue does not control, the off-topic ground carries the report.
Days 3-10 · Platform moderation
Yelp says reported content goes to its moderators and that evaluation may take several days, with an email when it is finished. Google evaluates the report against its prohibited and restricted content policy. Most decisions land inside this window.
Days 10-21 · Appeal where the first report is declined
A declined report is not the end. Google provides an appeal route for reviews it decides to keep, and a second filing that cites a different policy ground and better evidence is often what moves it.
Day 30 · Automatic refund
If the item is still live 30 days after payment, the fee refunds automatically, without a request, a form or a phone call. $397 Google, $697 Yelp, $497 harmful link.
The start form takes a few minutes if you have these four things in front of you. Nothing else is required to open the case.
5-9% per star
A one-star rating change moves revenue by a measurable amount
Michael Luca's Harvard Business School study of independent restaurants found a one-star increase in Yelp rating associated with a 5 to 9 percent increase in revenue. The finding is restaurant-specific, and it is the closest peer-reviewed measure of what a rating is worth to a restaurant.
Harvard Business School · Michael Luca, 2016 — Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com (Working Paper 12-016)
Off topic
Complaints about things you do not control are reportable
Reviews about a third-party delivery driver, a ticketing site, the weather or another venue with a similar name are off topic under Google's published policy, and that is the ground the filing uses.
Google Maps Help — Prohibited and restricted content policy for Maps user contributions
16 CFR Part 465
Buying reviews to bury a bad one is a federal violation, not a shortcut
Since October 21, 2024 the FTC rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews, insider reviews presented as customer reviews, and paying for positive or negative reviews, with civil penalties available per violation. For a restaurant that leaves two lawful moves: earn real reviews, and report the ones that break platform policy.
U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 2024 — Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465)
Policy grounds only
Google removes reviews that break a policy, not reviews you dislike
Google's own help documentation says any review can be reported but only content that violates its policies is eligible for removal. That is why a case starts by matching the wording to a named policy: fake engagement, off topic, impersonation, harassment, personal information or conflict of interest.
Google Business Profile Help — Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile
You pay the removal fee upfront so we can begin work. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, we automatically refund that removal fee to your original payment method. Google, Yelp, and other third-party sites make the final removal decision.
Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
A review describing a visit that did not happen fails the genuine-experience rule on Google and Yelp. We document the absence of any reservation, receipt or order and file on that basis. If the reviewer did eat with you, a food-poisoning claim is an opinion about their experience and stays.
Yelp removes reviews that violate its content guidelines and also filters reviews it does not recommend. A removal case at $697 targets a documented violation. The fee refunds automatically if the review is still visible at day 30.
Keep the message. Reviews used as leverage violate conflict-of-interest rules on Google and Yelp, and a documented demand is one of the strongest reports we file.
2025 Restaurant Operations Data Abstract (2024 data)
National Restaurant Association · 2025
Median pre-tax income of 4.3% of sales for full-service restaurants above $2 million in sales and 1.1% below it; median food and beverage cost of 31.0% and median labor cost of 36.5% of sales. Limitation: a survey of roughly 900 self-selected operators reporting medians, and the association does not publish a national average check in its free material.
Missing data note for venues, golf, charters, and casinos
Reputation Medics editorial note · 2026
No publisher prints an average revenue per booking for hotels, a venue-only rental average, a current per-round revenue figure for golf courses, a national charter-boat price, or a casino revenue-per-visit figure. The National Golf Foundation's current per-round economics sit in a members-only report, and the American Gaming Association publishes total gaming revenue without a per-visit denominator. Those job types are left out rather than derived.
2024 Local Consumer Review Survey
BrightLocal · 2024
Star rating and review sentiment vs. click-through from search and maps. Used for the click-through drag curve.
Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue
Harvard Business School · Michael Luca
Peer-reviewed link between review sentiment and revenue. Used for the sentiment drag curve.
Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com (Working Paper 12-016)
Harvard Business School · Michael Luca · 2016
Peer-reviewed study of independent restaurants finding a one-star rating increase associated with a 5 to 9 percent revenue increase. Restaurant-specific, cited only where the business model is comparable.
Prohibited and restricted content policy for Maps user contributions
Google Maps Help
The policy list a removal report has to cite: fake engagement, off-topic content, impersonation, harassment, personal information and conflicts of interest.
Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465)
U.S. Federal Trade Commission · 2024
Federal rule effective October 21, 2024. Bans fake or AI-generated reviews, reviews by insiders presented as customers, and buying positive or negative reviews. This is why removal has to be argued on policy grounds instead of countered with bought reviews.
Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile
Google Business Profile Help
Google's own documentation of the report route: any review can be reported, only reviews that break a content policy are eligible for removal, and the decision is Google's.
Yelp for Business Support Center
Yelp states that reported content is evaluated by its moderators and that the evaluation may take several days, with an email sent when it is done.
Paste the review, tell us which platform, and pay the removal fee for that item. If it is still up after 30 days the fee comes back automatically.
Starting with hospitality, dining and travel. Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Booking.com, Expedia and OpenTable.
Hotels & Lodging
TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Expedia. One bad review costs 30 direct bookings.
Explore Hotels & Lodging →Tourism & Tours
Bookings live and die on TripAdvisor, Viator, and GetYourGuide reviews.
Explore Tourism & Tours →Casinos & Gaming
High-stakes hospitality demands airtight reputation. We deliver it.
Explore Casinos & Gaming →Resorts
Full-service resorts and destination properties: reputation protection where a single OTA rating swing costs seven figures in RevPAR.
Explore Resorts →Wedding Venues
Wedding and event venues: reputation protection for once-in-a-lifetime bookings where every review is scrutinized.
Explore Wedding Venues →Event Venues
Corporate, private, and social-event venues: reputation protection for a booking-cycle-driven hospitality segment.
Explore Event Venues →Fishing Charter Companies
Deep-sea, inshore, and lake fishing charter companies: reputation protection for a destination-and-experience recreational segment.
Explore Fishing Charter Companies →Golf Courses
Public, semi-private, and resort golf courses: reputation protection for a destination-and-membership recreational segment.
Explore Golf Courses →Healthcare
Protect provider ratings across Google, Healthgrades, WebMD, and Zocdoc.
Explore Healthcare →