TL;DR
Google updated its rules to prohibit businesses from asking customers to mention employee names or specific content in reviews. This change affects how businesses track who is requesting reviews from customers.
- Previously, businesses tracked employee review requests by asking customers to name the employee in reviews, which Google now disallows.
- ReviewTrax offers a compliant solution by assigning each employee a unique QR code to track review requests before the review is even written.
- This system preserves existing workflows without requiring customers to download apps or create accounts while accurately tracking employee performance.
Quick win: Use ReviewTrax QR codes for tracking reviews instead of asking customers to mention employee names, keeping your review gathering compliant and your workflow simple.
As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Google changed the rules for how businesses can ask customers for reviews.
The major change is that businesses can no longer ask customers to mention an employee’s name, or include other specific content, in their review.
What might sound like a small change is actually a big deal for a lot of small businesses because it takes away one of the easiest ways to keep score.
For years, businesses have asked happy customers to mention the employee who helped them. It was simple and almost foolproof. If five reviews mentioned Mike, Mike got credit for five reviews.
That made it easy to see who was actually asking customers for reviews, who kept forgetting, and who deserved recognition for consistently doing it.
Google’s new rule takes that tracking method off the table.
Google took away the easy way to keep score. So we built a better option: ReviewTrax.
How Does ReviewTrax Replace Name-Drop Tracking?
ReviewTrax moves the tracking out of the review itself.
Each employee gets a unique QR code. When a customer scans it, ReviewTrax records whose code was used before the customer ever starts writing the review.
So instead of saying:
“Please leave us a review and mention Mike by name.”
Mike can simply say:
“If you have a minute, we’d really appreciate an honest review.”
The customer scans Mike’s QR code and continues on to leave the review in their own words.
That’s it.
They can mention Mike if they genuinely want to, but they do not need to. ReviewTrax already knows Mike was the employee who asked for the review.
You Don’t Have to Change the Workflow That Was Already Working
One of our biggest goals with ReviewTrax was to avoid replacing one simple system with a complicated one.
If your employees already use QR codes to collect reviews, the process barely changes:
- The employee finishes the job or customer interaction.
- The employee asks the customer for an honest review.
- The customer scans that employee’s QR code.
- ReviewTrax records the scan.
- The customer continues on to leave their review.
ReviewTrax simply sits in the middle and handles the tracking.
The customer does not need to download an app, create an account, or learn a new process.
Now You Can See Who Is Actually Asking for Reviews
This is the part that matters to the business owner. You do not have to count names in reviews or keep your own spreadsheet.
Just look at the report. You can see which employees are actually asking customers for reviews and which ones are not.
If Mike is consistently doing it and Steve keeps forgetting, you know. If you want to recognize employees who are making review requests part of their normal routine, you have real numbers to work with.
ReviewTrax does the counting for you.
What Keeps Someone From Gaming the Numbers?
Of course, once employees know their numbers are being tracked, somebody may be tempted to get a little creative.
We thought about that too.
ReviewTrax automatically validates scans rather than blindly counting every hit. QR codes can also be refreshed, so an old code that gets copied or shared cannot simply be reused forever to keep running up the numbers.
You do not need to know every detail of how the fraud protection works. You just need to know that we did not build a scoreboard that assumes everyone will always play fair.
Why Not Just Keep Asking Customers to Mention Employee Names?
Because Google has now specifically told businesses not to do that.
Customers are still free to mention employees on their own. The problem is asking them to include an employee’s identity or other specific content in the review.
Google can take action against review activity that violates its policies, including removing reviews or restricting review posting. If your current system depends on telling customers what to put in their reviews, it makes sense to change it.
ReviewTrax lets you change the tracking without throwing out the rest of the process.
Keep Asking for Reviews. Just Keep Score Differently.
You still need your employees asking happy customers for reviews. You still need to know who is actually doing it.
And your employees still deserve credit when they consistently make the effort. ReviewTrax gives you that information without relying on employee names inside Google reviews.
Google changed the rules. You don’t need to rebuild your workflow. You just need a better way to keep score.
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