NFC plaque or QR code for Google reviews: which one to choose?

“Google review” plaques with an NFC chip are sold everywhere, usually for €20 to €40 each, with no subscription. A QR code, for its part, prints for next to nothing. Which one to choose?

The short answer: the one your customers will see, in the right spot, with someone to point it out. The long answer follows.

How each one works

The QR code is read by the camera. Every recent phone does it without an app: the iPhone since 2017, the vast majority of Android phones from their camera or Google Lens. The bigger the code, the further away it can be scanned.

The NFC plaque holds a chip that sends a link when a phone comes within a few centimetres. The iPhone reads these chips without an app since the iPhone XS (2018), as long as the camera is not open and airplane mode is off. On Android, NFC has to be switched on, which some people turn off, and a few entry-level models have none.

That is why most NFC plaques also carry… a QR code.

Where the NFC plaque fails

• On metal. Placed on a till or a metal counter, the chip is disturbed and stops answering, unless it is a chip made for metal. Plaque buyers report it regularly.
• With some phones. NFC switched off, a phone too old, or a customer who does not know where their phone’s antenna is.
• With an unfamiliar gesture. “Tap your phone here” needs explaining; scanning a QR code has become a common gesture, learnt with menus and tickets.

Where the QR code fails

• Too small or too far. A code a few centimetres wide is read up close, not from the queue.
• Poor light or a glossy finish. A reflection on a varnished surface or a dark corner gets in the way.
• One more second. You open the camera, aim, tap the link.

The comparison

What matters more than the medium

Plaque or sticker, the same link is at the end. Four things make the difference, and none depends on the medium.

1. The spot. Where people wait or pay, at eye level: the till, the exit, the tables.
2. The ask. One sentence said by someone on the team is worth more than any silent medium.
3. The page that opens. The review form itself, or a page offering Google and Tripadvisor. Never a “satisfied?” question that sorts customers: some plaques sell that option, and Google forbids it. We explain why in this article on review gating.
4. Being able to change the destination. If the code points to a page you control rather than a fixed link, you can add Tripadvisor or change listings without reprinting.

And to know what works, you need to measure: a different code in each spot tells you which one gets scanned.

Our choice, and our advice

We chose the QR code for 123Hector’s stickers: it works with every phone, in every spot, costs little, and each sticker has its own code so you know which one gets scanned.

If you already have an NFC plaque, keep it: at the counter, it does the same job. Add QR codes where a plaque cannot go (the door, the exit, the tables) and see which ones get scanned. For the rest, our advice is in our article on getting more Google reviews.

With 123Hector

The Google review link and QR code are free, with an A4 sheet to print. With a subscription, three 10 × 10 cm vinyl stickers are offered, printed after the first payment and sent to the venue; more can be ordered afterwards, €19 for 3 or €49 for 10. Each leads to a page offering Google and Tripadvisor, the same for everyone, and counts its scans without any cookie.

Sources

• Apple, Adding support for background tag reading: reading NFC chips without an app, from the iPhone XS onwards.
• Search Engine Land, Google review guidelines: discouraging negative or selectively soliciting positive reviews is not allowed.