Why review gating is a problem
Google prohibits it in its review policies, and platforms can remove reviews or suspend a listing when they detect it. The commercial risk is just as real. A rating with no critical reviews reads as staged, and shoppers who cannot find a single complaint often assume the reviews were bought. Ratings between 4.2 and 4.7 tend to convert better than a perfect 5.0 for exactly this reason.
How to tell if you are gating
- Your review request asks how satisfied someone is before it asks for a review
- Low scorers see a support form while high scorers see a review link
- You only send requests to customers who never contacted support
- You exclude discounted or clearance orders from review requests
If the path a customer takes depends on how positive they are, that is gating.
What to do instead
- Send the same request to every buyer, with the same link, at the same point after delivery
- Publish reviews at every rating, including the 1 and 2 star ones
- Reply publicly to negative reviews and say what you changed
- Raise the volume of honest reviews so a handful of bad ones carry less weight
Questions
Is review gating illegal?
It is not a criminal matter in most places, but it breaches Google’s review policies and the terms of most review platforms, and regulators including the FTC have acted against businesses that suppress negative feedback. Penalties usually take the form of removed reviews or a suspended listing.
Can I still send a private feedback form?
Yes, as long as everyone gets the same public review invitation regardless of what they say. Asking for private feedback in addition to a review is fine. Using it as a replacement for unhappy customers is gating.