Our commitment to authentic, unfiltered customer reviews — and why it matters for your business and your customers.
Last updated: May 2025
Review gating is the practice of filtering customers before asking for reviews — only sending review requests to customers you believe had a positive experience, while hiding or discouraging negative feedback from reaching public platforms like Google or Yelp. This practice is explicitly prohibited by Google, Yelp, and the FTC because it artificially inflates star ratings and deceives consumers who rely on those ratings to make decisions.
TrustKindle was built on the principle that every customer deserves a voice — regardless of whether they had a positive or negative experience. We are firmly opposed to review gating in any form. Every customer you add to TrustKindle receives the same review opportunity. There are no filters, no pre-screening, and no selective routing based on internal ratings.
Send review requests to ALL customers, regardless of their internal rating
Collect private feedback as a customer service tool to help you improve
Let every customer decide independently whether to post a public review
Follow all Google, Yelp, and FTC guidelines on soliciting reviews
Provide transparent audit logs so you can see every email sent and to whom
Block or suppress negative feedback from reaching Google or Yelp
Only send review links to customers with high internal ratings
Route low-rated customers to a private feedback form instead of a public review
Offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews
Delete or report legitimate negative reviews to platforms
TrustKindle collects private feedback from customers before they decide whether to post a public review. This is a customer service tool — not a review filter.
The purpose of private feedback is to give you the opportunity to resolve issues and improve your service. It does not block customers from posting public reviews. Every customer — regardless of their private rating — receives the same public review link. The choice to post publicly is always entirely theirs.
Google explicitly prohibits review gating and requires that review requests are sent equally to all customers.
Yelp's policies prohibit selectively soliciting reviews and asking customers to post only positive feedback.
The FTC requires that reviews represent the honest opinions of actual customers and prohibits practices that skew results.
We are happy to walk you through exactly how TrustKindle works and how we keep your business compliant.
Contact us at hello@trustkindle.com