Is buying Google reviews legal?
Buying Google reviews is generally against Google policy and can create legal exposure under advertising and consumer protection laws. Violations can trigger removals, profile restrictions, and trust damage.
Educational content only, not legal advice. US laws and platform enforcement can vary by state and industry.
Google does not permit review manipulation, and US regulators can treat undisclosed paid endorsements as deceptive advertising. That means buying reviews from fake or unverified accounts is high risk for both visibility and compliance. Businesses often see short spikes followed by removals, lower trust, and weaker conversion when customers notice unnatural patterns. A better path is building authentic review request flows tied to real transactions, then improving response speed and service recovery for negative feedback. This creates durable momentum without gambling on policy violations. If you need faster progress, use review growth planning that prioritizes verified users, realistic pacing, and documented outreach records. That approach protects brand equity while supporting local SEO over the long term for sustainable credible growth.
What to do instead
- Launch a post-purchase review request flow tied to real customer events.
- Respond quickly to negative feedback to show accountability and improve trust.
- Use review growth planning with realistic weekly targets and monitoring.
Common mistakes
- Using vendors that cannot prove authentic, verified users.
- Pushing review bursts that look unnatural to platform detection systems.
- Ignoring disclosure and consumer protection expectations in campaigns.
OrderBoosts supports every client with a platform-compliant, long-term reputation strategy built on authentic feedback from verified users.
Related: Is it illegal to purchase reviews? · Further reading: Navigating Fake Reviews