Defamatory Google reviews: getting false statements removed in the UK

Is a bad Google review defamation? Opinion versus fact

Most bad reviews are not defamatory, however unfair they feel. The law protects people's right to give an honest opinion of a business they used. Defamation starts where a review states something as fact that is false, and that damages your reputation.

The test is roughly this: could the statement be proved true or false? "The food was awful" cannot be. "They served me out-of-date chicken" can. So can "the owner has a conviction for fraud", "they charged me for work they never did" or "the salon is not insured". A review can mix both, and only the factual claims count.

For example, the first review below is an opinion about a real visit and stays up. The second makes a specific factual claim. If the business can show it is false and harmful, it is a candidate for removal (the names and details are made up).

The serious harm test for businesses

Since the Defamation Act 2013, a false statement is not enough on its own. Section 1 sets a threshold, and a higher one for businesses:

"(1) A statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the claimant."

"(2) For the purposes of this section, harm to the reputation of a body that trades for profit is not 'serious harm' unless it has caused or is likely to cause the body serious financial loss."

Defamation Act 2013, section 1

So a company or other profit-making business has to show real money lost, or likely to be lost, because of the review. Evidence that can help includes a drop in enquiries or bookings after the review appeared, customers who cancelled and mentioned it, a lost contract, or a tender where the review came up. Keep dated records from the day you spot it.

One critical review on a profile with hundreds of good ones is hard to fit into that test. A detailed false allegation that sits at the top of your reviews and is being quoted back to you by customers is a different matter.

Defences a reviewer can rely on

Even when a review is harmful, the person who wrote it may have a defence. These are the main ones in the 2013 Act.

Honest opinion is the defence most reviewers would reach for, and it is why reviews that explain their reasoning are hard to challenge. Sections 5 and 10 are why the legal claim is normally against the reviewer, while the request to Google is to take the review down.

The one year time limit

A defamation claim in England and Wales must normally be brought within one year of publication, under section 4A of the Limitation Act 1980. A court can extend that, but you cannot count on it. For a Google review, the clock starts when it is posted.

Reporting the review to Google does not stop the clock. If a review is doing serious damage and you might want to take legal action, take advice early rather than waiting months for every other route to run out.

When policy reporting is quicker than the legal route

Many defamatory reviews break one of Google's own policies too, and a policy report is free, needs no legal argument and typically gets a decision within several days. Check these before you go near a solicitor:

• The reviewer was never a customerFake engagement covers content "not based on a real experience". See our page on how to remove fake Google reviews.
• The reviewer is a competitor, ex-employee or has a personal grudgeConflict of interest covers "current or former employment" and "other professional or personal affiliations".
• The review gives personal detailsGoogle removes "personally identifiable information and other personal information about yourself or others", such as a staff member's home address or health.
• The review threatens or targets a personHarassment covers a specific threat of harm and doxxing.
• The review misrepresents what you sellMisrepresentation covers "false or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service".

If none of those fit, or Google has already refused, the legal route is next. Our free review removal checker shows which policy a review is most likely to break.

How to report a Google review for defamation

Google handles legal complaints through a separate process from its review reports, called "Report content on Google for legal reasons". It works like this:

1. Open Google's legal removal form and select the product the content appears on, which for a review is Google Maps.
2. Choose your reason for reporting, picking the defamation option where it is offered.
3. Give the specific URL of the review. Google asks for "the specific URL(s) of the content you want to report, as opposed to the link to the website's home page".
4. Quote the exact words you say are false, explain why they are false, and describe the harm they cause. Attach your evidence.
5. Submit. Google says: "After you file a request, you will receive an email confirmation and a reference number."

Google may email you with questions, so watch that inbox. Be precise: a request that just says the review is unfair or untrue, without identifying which statement and why, gives Google nothing to act on. Remember too that Google says it can restrict access to content in its own products, but "that content may still exist elsewhere on the web".

Letters before claim and Norwich Pharmacal orders

Letter before claim

If you know who wrote the review and Google will not remove it, the usual next step is a letter before claim to the reviewer. It identifies the words complained of, explains why they are false and harmful, and asks for the review to be removed, often with an apology or undertaking not to repeat it. A reviewer who receives one can delete the review in a few taps, and that is often the simplest outcome for everyone.

A letter before claim is a formal legal step. A badly judged one can make things worse, so have a solicitor draft or check it.

Norwich Pharmacal orders

If the reviewer is anonymous, a Norwich Pharmacal order is a High Court order that requires a third party, such as Google, to disclose the identity of a wrongdoer. It is costly, and the applicant usually pays the respondent's costs as well as their own. It only makes sense when the harm is serious enough to justify a full claim once you have a name.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

The Defamation Act 2013 mainly covers England and Wales. The other parts of the UK have their own laws.

• Scotland: the Defamation and Malicious Publication (Scotland) Act 2021 has its own serious harm test and the same one year limitation period. It also restricts proceedings against secondary publishers, such as platforms.
• Northern Ireland: the Defamation Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 brings in defences including truth, honest opinion and publication on a matter of public interest. It does not contain an equivalent of the serious harm section of the 2013 Act.

If your business is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, make sure any solicitor you instruct practises there. Google's policy reports and legal removal form work the same across the UK.

Costs, risks and the Streisand effect

Legal action over a review is expensive and slow compared with a policy report. Solicitors usually charge whether or not you win, a Norwich Pharmacal order adds its own costs, and if a claim fails you can be ordered to pay the other side's costs too.

There is also the Streisand effect: trying to suppress something can draw far more attention to it than it had before. A heavy-handed legal threat to a customer can end up posted online, shared and reported on, and the story becomes the business that sued a reviewer. That is why a measured approach matters, and why the free, quiet routes should come first.

How we handle a defamatory Google review, and where a solicitor comes in

We are a review removal service, not a law firm. Here is how we handle a review you think is defamatory.

1. Free check. We read the review against every Google policy first, because a policy report is the quickest and cheapest route.
2. Policy report. If it breaks a policy, we file through your Business Profile or the Reviews Management Tool, and use the one appeal if needed.
3. Legal removal request. If it does not, or Google refuses, we help you prepare a precise request through Google's legal removal form.
4. Letter before claim. If Google still says no and you know who wrote it, we work with you on the facts for a letter before claim and, where it is needed, recommend you instruct a solicitor.

Our fee is fixed per review, agreed in writing before any work starts, and you only pay if the review is removed. Solicitor's fees, if you need one, are separate and between you and them. See our page on Google review removal cost for how the routes compare, or our main page on how to get negative Google reviews removed.