Jun 02 2014
Jessie Low

How to Leave a Google Review on Mobile

September 29, 2016 – UPDATE

Good news, Google has made it much easier than back in 2014 to leave a review for a business. We have created a new free tool to help businesses share their Google My Business listing and encourage more reviews. It generates a direct link to a business’ Rate & Review section of their listing. Check it: Google Review Link Generator.

If you want to do it manually, here are the new instructions:

Now you can access the Rate and Review section from your browser (on desktop or mobile), or by using the Google Maps App.

If you’re using a desktop you can search for the business, then click on the Write a Review button in the Reviews section of the businesses Knowledge Panel, select your number of stars, write your review, and you’re done.

If using a mobile browser, search for the business, click on the GMB listing, and then scroll down to the Rate and Review section, select the number of stars and leave your review.

 

When is the best time to ask for a review? A few days after an interaction with a customer, within a week or perhaps immediately after the business transaction is completed? We say it’s the latter; right after doing business with a client. The trouble is, people are not usually in front of their computers right after they interact with a small business and leaving a Google review on mobile has been a bit cumbersome in recent years. Today it requires the reviewer to download and use the Google Maps app, if it’s not already on their phone.

Well, did you know you can still leave a review in a mobile browser? For years we thought it wasn’t possible, but when researching for this post we found a way that works, and we have added the instructions to our Review Handout Generator to make it super easy to request reviews from mobile users.

A Brief History of Google Reviews on Mobile

Google has had a rocky history when it comes to mobile reviews. The routes permitting a mobile user to leave a review over the past six years have been a little confusing. Take a look at the timeline below:

Google Reviews on Mobile: The Here and Now

Leaving a Google review on mobile can be done in one of two ways.

1. Using the Google Maps Mobile Application (many people are already aware of this method)

2. Using Mike Blumenthal’s method to leave a review via your mobile browser. (Yes, it still works!)

1. How to leave a review using the Google Maps app

1. If you don’t already have the app installed, go to your App Store and download and install the “Google Maps” app (Android users have this application by default).

2. Log in to your Google+ profile. If you don’t have a Google+ page, you will have to sign up!

3. Open the Google Maps App on your iPhone, Android phone, iPad or tablet.

A) Type in the [business name][city]. You can also use your current location to find a business listing if you are at the place of business while leaving the review.

B) Select the Business listing

 C) Scroll down and click on the “Rate and Review” section

D) Write a review about your experience, service, and so on.

E) Finally, click on the “Publish” button.

Here’s a 48 second video showing you how easy it is to leave a review with the app (assuming the user has it installed and is logged in to their Google account).

2. How to leave a Google review using your mobile browser

Although Google disabled the review option in the mobile browser back in May of 2012, Mike Blumenthal left a comment on this post that still works today. In order for the reviewer to write a review via their mobile browser they’ll need a direct link to Google+ Local search results for the specific business (ie. business name “phone number + “city, state/province). You can’t just link to their specific G+ listing because this page will not have the review option available, but the search results have the little pencil icon that works on a mobile device.

To get the link you will have to perform the Google+Local search on your desktop/laptop. It is not currently possible to get these results via your mobile browser.

  1. Go to https://plus.google.com/local
  2. Search for the business
  3. Copy the link

Copy the link from your browser bar. This is the link you’ll send to people to leave you a review on mobile. You might want to use a URL shortener for this link. Our Review Handout Generator will automatically create a short URL.

Here’s what the reviewer will need to do:

A) Go into your mobile browser and log into your Google account (If the user signs in after clicking the link to the G+ Local search results, they will be redirected to the G+ App or page).

B) Go to the G+ Local Link that the business has provided, in our example it’s this.

But let’s get real, a lot of business owners feel apprehensive to ask for reviews to begin with, imagine trying to explain this mobile review process to a customer?

 

Whitespark’s Review Handout Generator: Now With Mobile Versions!

Whitespark’s free Review Handout Generator tool provides you with mobile Google review instructions using the Google Maps App and wait for it, the Mobile Browser option too! The time has come to capture reviews from an untapped review market that you have been missing out on.

Why is this great you ask?

  • It’s free.
  • The instructions are easy to read and understand.
  • This is one more medium you can use as a small business to encourage customer feedback.
  • A reviewer doesn’t have to go home and log on to their desktop or laptop to leave you a review.
  • We live in an “on the go” kind of world. Having the ability to write a review instantly after an experience and when it’s top of mind is convenient and awesome.
  • We think that the success rate of asking for mobile reviews will be higher.
  • Many Smartphone users can’t live without their phone and use it for everything; which means leaving a review on their phone will be easy peasy for them.
  • At the end of the day logging back on to your desktop or firing up your laptop isn’t very appealing when asked to leave a review this route. Most people have their Smartphone’s in hands reach and multitask while watching TV or out and about.
  • Did we mention it’s totally free?

 

How it works:

1. Select your platform of choice

2. Enter your business information

3. Save. Print. Share.

It’s that easy!

Do the mobile review handouts get reviews?

We decided that there was no better way to know if the handouts worked than testing them, so we printed 20 and gave them to the good people at Edmonton’s best hair salon, Fuss Art of Hair. In the past two weeks Fuss Art of Hair has received 4 Google reviews; that’s an amazing response rate for a company that hasn’t received a single Google review in the past 16 years of business.

For a great breakdown on the pros and cons of mobile versus desktop reviews, check out Phil’s post on the topic.

Ready to get more Google reviews?

Generate a Handout For Your Business!

Your Turn

So, why do you think Google doesn’t let you leave a review on a mobile browser directly from a Google+ Local listing or from within the Google+ app? Especially when Google mobile products dominate the Smartphone market. Perhaps it’s because they already have a large user base and reach within their Google Maps app, and they still don’t have strong user interaction within the G+ application. But when they love reviews so much, it’s strange that they don’t permit reviews through all available channels. We’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comments, and if you like this post it would be great if you gave it some social lovin’.

AUTHOR

Jessie Low

Jessie wears many hats here at Whitespark. From curating the monthly newsletter to managing marketing initiatives, and everything in between. She is the go-to helper for all things Whitespark.

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43 comments on “How to Leave a Google Review on Mobile”

  • I can see how the review rate will be much higher on mobile than desktop. I just downloaded the mobile guide and it looks slick and easy to use, great job! I’m eager to give this a try vs. typical desktop directions to see if people are more willing to leave a review.

  • Great post, extreme sharing has commenced.

    Thank you for all the great (free) tools and handouts, I selfishly take advantage whenever possible – and now a redux for the mobile ones.

  • Thanks for the info. I was trying to figure out an easy way for customers to do this. Yes, as you say…strange that Google isn’t making it easier to leave reviews on mobile.

  • Thanks for the info, I’ve been struggling with this for awhile now. It’s hard to get clients to review your business; making difficult for them to do so is just plain silly Google! I’ll be sending a link with this post to my past clients to make it easier.

  • Hi, your instructions worked on newer ipads. But for some reason on our 1st generation ipad we still cannot write reviews on our google plus page. Does anyone know why this is? I would highly appreciate any help

  • It is kind of ridiculous. I have a client who is a therapist. I can’t imagine that many people would leave a review with their name on it for a therapist. Most people probably do not want the world knowing they are in therapy.

    There should be a way for Google to allow the name to be anonymous but Google can verify that the person is real as is the review. There should be special cases for certain professions where a level of anonymity is expected.

  • I have been trying to get my customers to write reviews for my google Business Page but a lot of my customers find it difficult, most use mobile phones for everything nowadays and so with out being able to write reviews via the mobile phone it’s a bit hard, and it’s not easy to find the review page either, seen as Google have the top website developers i don’t think we should be having problems getting people to write reviews and if it is that hard then i’m sure they should improve this, i have told customers to go to my google plus profile via the URL and only just discovered that the review page is not on your landing page but in your about section but by default the page lands on posts, very interesting in other words it’s hardly worth trying to get a review if your only getting 1 review in every 10 you ask for, rather pointless and tiresome system that obviously doesn’t work.

  • Hi Jessie, I have always used the browser / maps methods but even these are no longer working for me, hence I Googled the question and found your post. I did however find another way so I thought I would share it.
    You can actually go to http://plus.google.com/local, locate the business then email the direct link to your clients. That direct link should still allow them to leave reviews.

  • I’ve used the free tool, which is great but unfortunately, leaving a review through a mobile browser doesn’t seem to work on my iPhone anymore. It seems Google maps is the only reliable way for leaving reviews on smartphones. Do you know if there a URL I can give to my clients that will open the Google maps app on my business?

  • Nice post, however, I am struggling to even get reviews – let alone encourage mobile reviews.

    Seems like no one can be bothered to even leave reviews nowadays, it’s quite disappointing as they becoming a more important ranking algorithm for local SEO.

  • Thank you so much for this. This was driving me absolutely NUTS trying to get people to write reviews and they (and I) couldn’t figure out how to do it on their phones.

  • You have written excellent article. I think this is
    the one of the best articles i read, many new things
    I have learned from this article.Hope You will keep
    continuing writing as well as people should know the
    importance of their business marketing through various
    tools.

  • Truly an excellent piece. I found it very helpful and learned a lot. For the sake of our customers, I wish the process was easier. I understand the difficulty. You did a great job of summarizing the process. Thanks for the sharing all of the hard work.

  • I have been trying to use this approach to attract reviews from mobile/tablet users. At this point in time, Google seems to have blocked all avenues by which mobile/tablet users might leave a Google review. Instead, Google is privileging TripAdvisor in its Maps Results. Very odd, intensely annoying.

  • With the the recent update on May 5, 2015, and mobile users no longer being able to write a Google+ review without the Google Maps app (for example, on iOS), what are BlackBerry and Windows Phone users expected to do?

  • Great article & also update to it.
    It is extremely frustrating the way google keep messing with G+, My Business, Places & Maps.
    Once again shows how we are all at their mercy and need to jump through hoops to achieve something that is actually relatively simple but made more difficult to help Google achieve THEIR objectives.

  • I created revucue.com, and the ability for my users to solicit reviews from their customers while on mobile phones is paramount. After becoming aware of the new Google changes I created a solution that modifies the Google URL and effectively directs customers to the review pop-up of any particular Google listing. Email or call anytime. Thank You

  • Hello. despite the disclaimer at the top of this page, you can still get links that work for android users on mobile browsers (i think iOS will have to use the maps app still).

    Steps (do this on desktop):
    1) Go to google maps.
    2) Search for business address
    3) Click on business so that it pops up in the left side
    4) Right click on “Write a review” link and copy it.
    5) Share this link with your android users.
    Example: https://www.google.ca/search?q=Storwell+Self+Storage,+300+Evans+Ave,+Toronto,+ON+M8Z+6C8&ludocid=3009236871758088464#lrd=0x882b37d5caaf1d01:0x29c2f4fdc2260910,2

    They key part to notice is the last bit: #lrd=0x882b37d5caaf1d01:0x29c2f4fdc2260910,2 This is what causes google’s javascript to pop open the write a review page.

    The way we do this is we have a php script with a user agent detection. If the user agent is android, we redirect them to this link. If it is an iOS user we redirect them to the google maps link, such as:

    comgooglemaps://?q=Storwell+Self+Storage¢er=43.61688,-79.520043&zoom=23

    From there they need to follow a couple steps to get to the actual review screen.

    Sort of sucks for iOS users, but at least for all android users they get taken directly to the write a review page.

  • I can not even leave a review. The review tabs under business listings are missing or if I find a review tabs and click on it nothing happens. Any clues?

  • @Norman,

    You can review a business on mobile if you are in your GMaps App or Chrome App.

    1. Open your GMaps app, search the business you want to leave a review fow and then scrolling down the listing until you get to the 5 review stars. Select the number of starts, write a review, and submit. Super easy.

    2. Open your Chrome Browser app, search the business you want to review, then scroll down the listing until you get to the 5 review stars. Select the number of stars, leave your feedback, then submit!
    (If you’re searching for a business in a different browsers, like Safari – leaving a review won’t be possible).

    Remember that you have to be logged into your Gmail account to be able to leave a review in any of these applications. Hope this helps.

  • Hi Jessie,
    It really works great. Thanks for the awesome tips.

    In case you are interested, you can have a look at these top 10 mobile phones 2015 reviews which give a good comparison.

Comments are closed.