Can you collect only positive reviews?

Review gating breaks Google's and the FTC's rules. Here is the version that doesn't.

Impact
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Filed under
Conversion, Awareness
Updated

Collecting only positive reviews means asking users if they are happy and sending only the happy ones to the public review page. Most people call it review gating, and the platforms and regulators that matter have moved against it. Google bans selectively soliciting positive reviews for business listings, Google's Play guidelines tell you not to ask the "Do you like the app?" question the gate depends on, and Apple disallows custom review prompts. The version that is allowed: ask everyone, then give unhappy users a separate way to reach support.

Why the gate stopped working

  • On Google business listings, the Maps policy says merchants may not "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers." Read the Maps contributed content policy.
  • On Google Play, the In-App Review API guidelines say your app should not ask any questions before or while showing the rating card, "including questions about their opinion (such as 'Do you like the app?')."
  • On the App Store, App Review Guideline 5.6.1 says to use the provided API to prompt for reviews and that Apple will "disallow custom review prompts." Section 3 of the same page warns that attempts to manipulate reviews with "filtered" feedback can get you expelled from the Apple Developer Program.
  • For reviews on your own site, the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials rule (16 CFR Part 465) took effect October 21, 2024. Section 465.7 bars saying your review section shows most or all reviews when you are hiding some based on rating or negative sentiment. It also bars threats and intimidation aimed at getting negative reviews removed. Section 465.4 bars paying or rewarding people for a particular sentiment. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations.

How to do it

  1. Pick a moment when the user has just done something useful in your product, such as finishing a project or exporting a report. Skip moments right after an error or a cancellation click.
  2. Show the same review prompt to every eligible user at that moment, whatever their mood. Use the native prompt: the Google Play In-App Review API on Android and Apple's provided API on iOS. Do not put a satisfaction question in front of it.
  3. Add a permanent "Send feedback" or "Contact support" link in settings or the help menu. It sits next to the review flow, not in front of it, and it never decides who sees the review prompt.
  4. Reply to public reviews, including bad ones. Keep replies to the reviewer's actual points and fix what is fixable. The FTC's rule Q&A says it is fine to respond publicly and to contact customers who left negative reviews to resolve their issue. It is also fine to ask a satisfied customer to update their review. Do not offer anything in exchange for changing a rating.
  5. Tag the reasons in your 1 and 2 star reviews each month, fix the top one, and keep the prompt on the same schedule for everyone.

Examples

  • Google Play's own prompt. Google's In-App Review API shows a card where the user can rate 1 to 5 stars and add an optional comment, with no opinion question beforehand. That design is the platform's answer to gating.
  • A site that did it wrong: Fashion Nova. The FTC alleged that Fashion Nova told shoppers its reviews reflected all purchasers who submitted them while suppressing reviews below four stars out of five. It settled for $4.2 million and is barred from suppressing reviews, per the FTC's announcement of the final order.

When it backfires

  • Google treats gating as a policy violation on business listings, and Apple says review manipulation can end with expulsion from the Apple Developer Program.
  • The FTC rule does not name the app-store "are you happy?" screen. It does cover what you show on your own site, and the Fashion Nova order shows how the FTC treats hidden low ratings.
  • Showing only five-star testimonials in your ads is a different question. The FTC's rule Q&A says that is not covered by the suppression section, but non-representative reviews in marketing can still be deceptive under the FTC Act.
  • You also get less honest data. A private "no" never shows how many users were annoyed enough to leave, and the gate hides problems you could have fixed.

Questions people ask

Can I collect only positive reviews? Not by screening who gets asked. Google's policy lists selective solicitation of positive reviews as a violation. Ask everyone.

How do I collect reviews for my business? Send everyone the same ask after a good moment, link straight to your Google Business Profile or app store listing, and do not offer discounts or gifts for a review.

Can I reward users for reviews? Not for a particular rating. The FTC rule bans incentives conditioned on a positive or negative sentiment, and Google's policy bans incentives for reviews outright.

Sources

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