Most businesses keep Google rankings when Google removes reviews. The only times I have seen businesses lose rankings is when their overall rating drops. Two cases where these businesses lost all their rankings once Google removed their reviews.
Case One.
This business had a review contest where they gave away a gift in exchange for Google reviews. They had 23 Google reviews and a 5-star average rating on July 8th, 2023. Google removed 15 reviews. There is talk about a ranking boost once a business gets ten reviews. This business profile lost its rankings when it dropped below the ten reviews count on July 17th. As of November 18th, 2023, they have eight Google reviews and have yet to recover their rankings. This business is showing its address.
Case two
Here is another business that offered a gift in exchange for Google reviews. This is a service area business, a.k .a. hiding the address. They had 14 Google reviews on June 23rd, 2023. Google removed ten reviews on June 27th, 2023. On July 6th, 2023, the business lost all of its rankings. Once the business crossed the ten review count, they got their rankings back. On November 18th, 2023, I reported they are still running the review contest. They went from 22 reviews down to five reviews. As of November 27th, 2023, they lost all of their rankings.
These businesses benefited from getting over ten Google reviews. They lost their rankings once they dropped below the ten review count. I am tracking the same keyword for both businesses, as the same person owns them. The second business will continue to get reviews, and once they cross the ten review count, I will run a new ranking report to see if they get their rankings back.
