As of late, businesses have been offering contest entries in exchange for positive reviews on Google+ Local. The team at Google responded to a query on their forums recently, explaining that soliciting your customers to give you good reviews for a chance to win product (or money) is a violation of their review guidelines.

Let's break down the rules once more:

1. Do not bribe your customers to review you or your competitors in a certain way.
2. Do not set up a kiosk or review station to get immediate reviews from customers.
3. Do not review your place of work if you are an employee or business owner.
4. Do not pretend to be a customer, in order to give yourself a good review.
5. DO provide top-quality service, so people are naturally inspired to give you a good review.

Brought to you by the experts at SearchEngineNews.com. Who have had their finger on the pulse of the SEO industry for 16 years. Reading every mainstream blog, talking with industry insiders and separating what works from what doesn't - ALL so you don't have to. Learn more and qualify for a FREE copy of our award winning SEO Book today.