Definition
Review Gating
The practice of screening customers before asking for a public review, directing unhappy customers to private feedback instead. Prohibited by Google and most review platforms.
What does Review Gating mean?
Review gating is the practice of pre-screening customers, usually with a private survey, before deciding whether to invite them to leave a public review, routing satisfied customers to review platforms while diverting dissatisfied ones to a private feedback channel instead. It selectively filters which experiences ever become visible reviews.
Why does Review Gating matter?
It matters because it produces a distorted, artificially positive review profile that misleads future customers, and it is explicitly against the terms of service of major review platforms including Google, which can lead to review removal or account penalties if discovered.
How is Review Gating applied in practice?
Compliant practice instead invites all customers to leave a review through the same open channel, regardless of predicted sentiment, and any private feedback collection is run as a separate, parallel process rather than a filter that determines who gets asked to review publicly.
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Where this fits
Review Gating sits in the customer reviews part of the NotiProof resource network.
Read the Customer Reviews guide