Review AutomationOctober 21, 2026

Discounts for Google Reviews: Legal, but Is It Allowed?

Are discounts for Google reviews legal? Learn what the FTC rule allows, why Google bans every review incentive, and how to ask for reviews the right way.

Small business owner at a shop counter holding a smartphone next to a card reader and a potted plant

Discounts for Google reviews aren't automatically illegal under US federal law, but Google bans them outright, so the reviews can be removed and your profile can be restricted. The FTC only objects when the reward is tied to a positive (or negative) review or goes undisclosed. Google bans the reward no matter what the review says.

That means the legal question and the Google question have two different answers. If your business lives and dies by its Google Business Profile, the Google answer is the one that matters.

It's a tempting idea, though. You finish a job, the customer's happy, and a little off their next visit feels like a fair thank-you for a few minutes of their time. Here's why that thank-you causes more trouble than it's worth, and what to do instead.

What the FTC actually bans

The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule took effect on October 21, 2024. The key part is short. Under 16 CFR § 465.4, a business can't give compensation or other incentives in exchange for reviews that express a particular sentiment, positive or negative.

Notice what's missing. The FTC says plainly that the rule doesn't prohibit incentives for reviews as long as there's no express or implied requirement that the review be positive or negative.

That word implied catches a lot of people. You can't hint that the reward depends on a good review, even if you never say it. A note like "Loved your oil change? Leave us a review and the next one's on us" starts to look like a condition.

A few more things the FTC points out:

Failing to disclose an incentive can still violate the FTC Act, even when the incentive itself is allowed.
The rule covers reviews on third-party platforms like Google, not just your own website.
Even with disclosures, if incentives noticeably raise your average star rating compared with reviews nobody was rewarded for, that can still be deceptive.

The penalties are real. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations, and the FTC's 2025 inflation adjustment raised the maximum civil penalty to $53,088. In December 2025 the agency sent warning letters to 10 companies under the new rule, citing penalties of up to $53,088 per violation.

We're not lawyers. If you're set on running any kind of review incentive, run it past one first.

Why discounts for Google reviews are a bad idea anyway

Even if your offer would pass the FTC test, Google's rules are stricter. Google's Business Profile help page says offering incentives like free or discounted goods or services in exchange for reviews is considered fake and misleading content and is strictly prohibited. The same goes for offering a reward to change or remove a negative review.

Sentiment doesn't matter here. A discount for an honest three-star review breaks the rules just as much as one for five stars. Google's Maps content policy also bans reviews that were paid for directly or in kind, and "in kind" covers the free haircut and the discounted service call.

The FTC itself notes that many platforms prohibit incentives that federal law would allow. Google is one of them.

So what can Google actually do? Its Business Profile restrictions page says it can:

Block your profile from getting new reviews for a set period
Unpublish your existing reviews for a set period
Show customers a warning on your profile that fake reviews were removed

The page doesn't say how long that set period is. It does say Google will email you before applying a restriction, and that you can appeal. At the far end, Google's content policy says it can go as far as suspending account privileges or terminating the account.

Think about that warning for a second. For a plumber or a roofer, the profile is often the first thing a new customer sees. A notice saying fake reviews were removed is the kind of thing no discount is worth risking.

Is it legal to offer a prize or a drawing?

Same logic. Entering everyone who leaves a review into a monthly gift card drawing is still an incentive. Under the FTC rule it can be legal if it's open to any review, good or bad, and it's disclosed. On Google it's still a reward for a review, so it's out.

Yelp is stricter than both. Yelp's DOs and DON'Ts for business owners says don't offer freebies, discounts or payment for reviews. It also says don't ask anyone to write a review at all, and that includes your customers.

Is it illegal to ask for Google reviews?

No. Asking is fine. Google's content policy lets businesses solicit or encourage genuine reviews as long as there's no incentive attached. Google's own tips for getting more reviews suggest sending customers a Google review link or a QR code.

The catch is who you ask. Google bans review gating, which means you can't selectively ask only happy customers or discourage negative reviews. That language dates to an April 2018 guideline update, as local SEO expert Joy Hawkins reported. The FTC says gating isn't specifically banned by its rule but could still violate the FTC Act.

So ask everybody. The salon regular who's been coming in for years gets the same request as the one-time customer who seemed a little quiet at checkout. Same ask, every customer, no strings.

Tip: Ask while the job is still fresh. A text with your review link sent the same day is a lot easier for someone to act on than a reminder weeks later.

If you've already offered discounts for Google reviews

Stop the offer first. Take down the sign at the counter, cut the line from your follow-up emails, and make sure your staff knows it's over.

Then switch to a plain ask: your review link, sent to every customer, with nothing attached. If you want to thank people, thank them for their business. A loyalty perk that everyone gets whether they review or not isn't tied to a review at all.

If Google emails you about a restriction, read it closely, confirm the incentive is gone, and use the appeal option if you think the action was a mistake. Whatever you do, don't try to replace removed reviews with new paid ones.

The short version? The law leaves you a little room. Google leaves you none. Ask every customer for an honest review, make it easy to leave one, and let them come in on their own. If you'd rather not send those requests by hand, that's the job Review Monster does in the background. Take a look at reviewmonster.com whenever you're ready.