Can I pay customers for Google reviews?

Google's prohibited content policy explicitly bans incentivized reviews. "Reviewers must not accept money or products in exchange for posting reviews about a business or for changing or removing reviews." Violations can get your reviews removed, your Business Profile suspended, and in egregious cases — like the FTC's Fashion Nova settlement — result in fines.

The ban applies even when the incentive is small (a coffee, 10% off, a free side). It applies even when you only ask for honest reviews. The triggering action is offering the incentive, not the content of the review.

What you can legally do: ask customers for reviews. Make it easy with a QR code, a short link, or a text-message reminder. You can run promotions that aren't tied to leaving a review — a frequent-buyer discount, a birthday perk — and many of those customers will leave positive reviews on their own. You can also incentivize content on platforms where it's allowed: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube all permit paid or incentivized posts as long as the user discloses the relationship (typically with #ad).

Social Perks blocks Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor review campaigns by design — the platform refuses to launch them. This protects your Business Profile from suspension while letting you build the same word-of-mouth flywheel on the platforms where incentivization is allowed.