Offering a Discount for a Google Review: Policy and Law in Canada
Offering a discount for a Google review breaks Google's review policy and can create legal risk in Canada. Here is what the rules actually say.
Read the articleReputation and Reviews
Google reviews and customer comments carry weight in a buyer's decision before they ever dial your number or walk through your door. This section of the blog gathers our articles on online reputation: how to respond to a review, what to do about an unfair comment, how to encourage happy customers to leave one, and how your Google Business Profile shapes local visibility. It is written for owners and managers of small businesses across Greater Montreal and Quebec, restaurants, clinics, salons, merchants and home service providers, who want to understand what drives their reputation before they act, with explanations grounded in real situations rather than generic advice. For hands-on help, our reputation management service picks up the day-to-day follow-through when you would rather delegate it. Unsure about a term in a post? Our glossary explains digital marketing terms in plain language, without the jargon.
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Frequently asked questions
What is online reputation management?
Online reputation management means monitoring, responding to and shaping the reviews, comments and mentions that form a business's public image on Google, social platforms and review sites. For a local business, it directly affects a prospective customer's trust before the first contact ever happens.
Why do Google reviews matter for local ranking?
Google treats the number, recency and content of reviews as a relevance signal for Google Maps and local search. A profile with recent, detailed reviews stands a better chance of showing up in the local pack than one that has gone quiet for months.
How do you respond to a negative review without making it worse?
A good response acknowledges what the customer experienced, stays factual, avoids arguing in public and offers to continue the conversation privately to actually fix the problem. Future readers judge the business's tone and response speed as much as the review itself.
What is the difference between reputation and online awareness?
Awareness measures how well known a business is, while reputation measures how it is regarded. A business can be widely known and poorly reviewed, or barely known and highly rated. Our glossary breaks down this distinction and other digital marketing terms in plain language.
Which businesses should watch their reviews most closely?
Any business where customers compare a few options before booking benefits from this: restaurants, clinics and aesthetics studios, retailers and home service providers. These are purchases where a past customer's review carries real weight in the final decision.