The review page and compliance

Exactly what the homeowner sees, and why it is not review gating.

Google's policy forbids “review gating”: selectively asking happy customers for public reviews while steering unhappy ones away. Starkeel's page is designed so that never happens. Here is the sequence.

Step 0: the ask

The client's logo, “How did we do today?” with “Your technician: Mike” beneath it, five large stars, and a text link that says Skip — review us on Google. The ask is always neutral — it never names the technician or suggests what to write — and the public link is available before anyone rates.

Step 1: after a tap

Both branches render the same Share your experience block — Google first, then Facebook and Yelp if enabled — in the same place at the same size.

• 4–5 stars adds “Thanks — Mike will be glad to hear it” and an optional testimonial box with a consent checkbox.
• 1–3 stars adds “Sorry we missed the mark. Tell the owner what went wrong — this goes to them, not the internet”, with an optional phone or email for a call-back.

Step 2: after sending

“Got it, thank you.” The public links stay on screen.

Rules baked in

• Public links reachable at every step, for every rating.
• No incentives, no pre-filled review text.
• Private feedback is never published anywhere.
• Testimonials show on the website only with the customer's consent (timestamped) and after approval.
• One rating per visitor per technician per day; tapping again changes the rating rather than adding a second one. A click through to a review site counts once per visitor per technician in 24 hours. Nobody games the leaderboard by tapping their own card.

What stops spam

Beyond the per-visitor rule, one address can send at most 60 ratings an hour and 10 messages an hour, one technician's page takes at most 200 ratings and 30 messages an hour, and one client at most 60 messages an hour. A message sent within three seconds of the page opening is refused, because a person never types that fast. Testimonials that look like profanity, a slur, a threat, an advert or contain a phone number are held for you to read before they can be approved.

What gets recorded

Page opens, ratings, clicks to each platform, feedback and testimonials, each attributed to a technician. A hashed IP is stored for rate limiting. Your own scans carry a test tag so they do not count. Our privacy page lists exactly what is stored and for how long.