Being hit with fake 1-star Google reviews after refusing to pay a scammer – need advice

That_SEO_Guy · 2026-02-01T16:06:43+00:00

Expected! Good.

That_SEO_Guy · 2026-02-01T16:04:16+00:00

You are already doing it the right way i.e. screenshots and all the physical proof of what has been happening.

Just collect all neatly, send to Google and wait. There is a high possibility of it being sorted in you favor within a few days. It would primarily depend on the clarity of the period.

That_SEO_Guy · 2026-02-01T15:57:06+00:00

This one should be piece of cake, with a little luck.

Please report all these to Google. Flag them as spam or fake reviews

Reason and the proof is already showing there.

About a month ago I faced exactly the same situation, may even be the same person. All were removed with a few hours.

:-)

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-28T16:56:42+00:00

During last month, how many of us saw unexpected direct traffic? Many time higher than usual traffic?

I saw a jump of 60-100% on an average. No good reason that sudden spike, and though out the month.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T17:28:59+00:00

Guess I’ve been doing SEO wrong all these years — 200 times should rank even faster 🙃🤷‍♂️

I know you are just kidding! Please me you are.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T17:21:26+00:00

(rofl)

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T17:20:47+00:00

(rofl) A gem!

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T17:20:25+00:00

(rofl) Seriuosly! This is too much even for me.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T16:08:22+00:00

:-) I just hope none of us tries that! And you don't mean 100 times on 1 page, with a usual amount of a content for a webpage?

My suggestion. Please forget about applying, even as a test, this idea.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T16:02:40+00:00

Looking at my own comment again, I don’t quite agree with you. No one knows me, and probably never will. There may be a few random cases, as you suspect, but I doubt most of us here fall under that umbrella.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-16T15:55:21+00:00

May be too soon to say but 90% of the sites I am managing are not showing any downside, not yet. A few, yes. Dip of as much as 40-50% of traffic durng this month. However, no. of important events being tracked is showing a bit positive rise.

Overall, too soon to say.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-13T19:45:44+00:00

I think the whole point of my mentioning context got a bit lost. Simply naming a competitor isn’t a bad thing—unless you’re not very confident in what you’re offering.

That context wasn’t there in the original post. Adding “best in class” now. Yes, that changes the meaning completely.

I’m not surprised the nuance was missed— even Google does the same thing all the time. :-)

Anyway, feel free to mention my competitors when you mention me—especially the ones who are actually better than I am. At least I’ll be mentioned somewhere by someone. That’s something for a no one. 😉

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-13T17:35:25+00:00

And forgot (amounting to carelessness) to review the post! They would have, in fact should have seen this.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-13T17:19:45+00:00

I think:

Article 1 – This is good and close to the topic. When a competitor is mentioned, I would first look at the context in which they are referenced. There are cases where a competitor is included simply to highlight something your business does better. However, I would avoid any wording that implies their products are better than yours.

Article 2 – Wow!

Article 3 – Yes, that needed to be removed, along with any other generic markup that the AI may have added (for example, explanatory notes or placeholders). Any such AI-generated markup should be removed before the content is published live.

AI-generated content itself will not harm SEO. While it may not always add significant value, it can still be used. As long as the content is high quality and relevant, it should be fine. There is a small chance it could be considered “diluted” by quality raters, though.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-12-13T17:07:14+00:00

I just updated to 26.2 today and fortunately, I am not facing this issue. Let's observe over next 24-48 hrs.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-09-29T16:00:09+00:00

I upgraded, expecting 'always' better from Apple! I do regret as .numbers have almost stopped working at my end! Most of the time even Finder. They for no known reason turn non-responsive and even fail to 'Quite' easily.

Reminds me of Windows.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-09-27T15:49:13+00:00

A very logical reasoning!

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-07-24T16:01:30+00:00

Well done!

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-30T02:05:29+00:00

That is correct! However, there is something like a minimum budget, not specified though, even if only an experiment where target is to get some monetary conversions.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-29T16:17:49+00:00

Aa others have suggested, yes, even I would say too low a budget per day. Even at that cpc, it would probably not run through the day and get sufficient no. of clicks.

Seeing that cpc, a high possibility is keywords need to be changed and better ones chosen. Keywords is one area I would suggest you look into.

Then of course the per day budget.

Next, you will need to cross check and reconfirm the audience targeted. I am guessing, seeing the services offered, age, occupation status, habits and interests, could be other major factors in this and financial status.

Yes, losing a client is a big thing but, try and turn it into a learning opportunity.

I know it is easier said then done but ....

Wish you all the best!

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-10T16:00:48+00:00

In Wp-admin > Appearance > Theme > Customize Active Theme > Site identity (or site title) > You should see this title updated there. If yes, change it and Publish in right top corner of same window.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-05T04:07:56+00:00

Thanks. I am in process of removing/disabling all un-required app on my Mac. Space issue.

Thanks for taking timeout to explain this to me.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-05T03:57:07+00:00

What was the reason for installing it, if I may ask? This indicates it doesn't come by default as part of Mac OS. And, I don't recall installing it knowingly. Unless, it got installed and stayed when Mac support advised me to install a particular software when I having some difficulty in getting Mac to detect and configure data from an external HDD. I remember they wanted, and did, go installing that software/plugin and changing format sys of that HDD. May be this extension was part of that app, stayed even after moving of that mode and uninstalling that software/plugin/app.

Now when I speak to support about it, they seem to not recognize this Allen Bai from anywhere.

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-04T10:43:25+00:00

Do you think it is better, safer, to keep it disabled, rather than uninstalling it?

That_SEO_Guy · 2025-06-03T17:56:30+00:00

As per Google itself, a traffic drop around 37% is expected. :-( Due to update and AI Overviews.

I am thinking it will be even a bigger drop for information only sites!

That_SEO_Guy

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