Can a Business Sue for Fake Google Reviews in Australia?

2026-06-02

The short answer is yes. Australian law provides several legal avenues for businesses to pursue action against fake Google reviews. The longer answer is more complicated, because legal action is expensive, slow, and often impractical for the businesses that need help most.

This is not a reason to do nothing. It is a reason to understand all your options before choosing a path.

The Legal Framework

Australian businesses have two primary legal tools for addressing fake reviews.

Defamation

If a fake review contains false statements of fact that damage your business's reputation, you may have a defamation claim. Under the Defamation Act (which operates at state and territory level with broadly consistent provisions), a person or business can sue for publications that lower them in the estimation of reasonable members of the community.

Key points for Google reviews:

• Who can sue. Individuals and businesses with fewer than 10 employees can bring defamation claims. Larger businesses are excluded from defamation actions, though they may have other legal remedies.
• What you must prove. The review was published to a third party (it was, on Google). The review identifies your business. The review conveys a defamatory meaning. The reviewer does not have a valid defence.
• Defences. The reviewer may argue truth, honest opinion, or qualified privilege. If the review is genuinely based on their experience and constitutes an honest opinion, these defences may succeed even if the review is harshly worded.

Australian Consumer Law

Fake reviews can also constitute misleading or deceptive conduct under Section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, or false representations under Section 29. This is particularly relevant when a competitor has posted or solicited fake negative reviews about your business.

The ACCC can pursue these matters, and businesses can bring private actions seeking injunctions and damages. Penalties for corporations can reach into the millions.

What Legal Action Actually Costs

Here is where theory meets reality.

Initial legal advice and strategy: $2,000 to $5,000. A solicitor needs to assess the review, identify the legal basis for action, and advise on prospects of success.

Identifying the reviewer: Often $5,000 to $15,000. Many fake reviews are posted anonymously or under pseudonyms. Before you can sue someone, you need to know who they are. This may require preliminary discovery applications to compel Google to disclose account information. Google does not always cooperate willingly, and the process involves its own legal costs and timeline.

Proceedings: $20,000 to $100,000 or more. Filing a defamation claim, conducting discovery, preparing evidence, attending hearings, and potentially going to trial. Even if the matter settles early, legal costs accumulate quickly.

Total realistic cost for a contested matter: $30,000 to $120,000+.

For a large business suffering sustained, identifiable attacks causing major financial harm, these costs may be justified. For a small business dealing with a handful of fake reviews, they are disproportionate.

How Long It Takes

Legal timelines in Australia are not fast.

Filing a defamation claim requires compliance with pre-action requirements, including a concerns notice to the reviewer (if identifiable). After filing, the matter proceeds through the court system. A straightforward case might resolve in six to twelve months if it settles. A contested matter can take one to three years to reach trial.

Throughout this entire period, the fake review remains on your Google profile. It continues to damage your rating, deter customers, and cost you revenue every single day.

Some business owners obtain interim injunctions to compel removal during proceedings, but these applications have their own costs (typically $5,000 to $15,000) and are not always granted.

The Anonymity Problem

Perhaps the biggest practical obstacle to legal action against fake reviewers is identifying them.

Google reviews can be posted under any name. The name on the review may not be the reviewer's real name. Even if it is, you still need to confirm their identity and obtain a serviceable address to commence proceedings.

This typically requires a preliminary discovery application, asking the court to order Google to disclose the account holder's information. Google's compliance with these orders is inconsistent. The information disclosed may be limited, outdated, or insufficient to identify the reviewer.

If the reviewer turns out to be overseas, enforcement becomes significantly more complex and expensive.

When Legal Action Makes Sense

Legal action is the right tool in specific circumstances:

• The fake reviews are part of a deliberate, sustained campaign causing demonstrable financial harm
• The reviewer is identifiable and within Australian jurisdiction
• You want to pursue damages, not just removal
• The amount at stake justifies the legal costs
• You want to set a precedent or deter future attacks

These situations exist. They are real. And when they arise, a good commercial litigation solicitor is worth every dollar.

The Practical Alternative: Policy-Based Removal

For the majority of fake review situations, there is a path that costs less, works faster, and achieves the core objective: getting the review off your profile.

Google's own content policies prohibit fake reviews, reviews from people with conflicts of interest, harassment, spam, and over 40 other categories of problematic content. When a review violates these policies, Google will remove it through its own processes.

The challenge is not whether the policies cover fake reviews. They do. The challenge is presenting the case in a way that Google's moderation team can act on. This is where specialist expertise makes the difference between a rejected flag and a successful removal.

Policy-based removal offers clear advantages over legal action:

• Cost. $99 per review versus $20,000 to $100,000+ in legal fees.
• Speed. Days to weeks versus months to years.
• No need to identify the reviewer. The focus is on the review content and its policy compliance, not the reviewer's identity.
• No court involvement. The entire process happens through Google's own channels.

CredBolt: The Practical Path for Australian Businesses

CredBolt specialises in policy-based Google review removal. Our team of review policy specialists analyse each review through our proprietary analysis, identifying the specific policy violations and handling the entire removal process.

We do not replace legal action. For the cases that warrant it, we encourage businesses to pursue legal remedies. But for the vast majority of Australian businesses dealing with fake reviews, policy-based removal through CredBolt is the faster, cheaper, and more practical solution.

Get a free review analysis from CredBolt. We will examine your reviews, identify which ones violate Google's policies, and give you a clear picture of your options. No legal fees. No waiting months. Just answers and action.