@j0pewd I was on your shoes one day! Then I realised that some people will leave reviews only to make you down on purpose!
You need to be comfortable seeing bad reviews that are not reflecting the truth! that is part of any online business.
So, reply professionally to your bad reviews and let it go.
It isn't always effective but I always contact the student first and try to genuinely understand and resolve the issue. I would say only 5-10% of the time they respond. In many cases where I did fix the issue students changed the review (without me asking). That being said I completely agree that some bad reviews don't make sense at all like leaving a one star review with no comments after consuming 1% of the course. One thing that has helped for those students who start the course but don't follow through was to make the first 3-4 lectures as interesting as I can. For example by the fourth lecture my students have already easily created a very simple mobile app.
I do agree that bad reviews can kill motivation.
Whenever I report a review I try to follow this link:
https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229605048-Udemy-Review-System-Guidelines?
I have managed to remove some bad review through Udemy but it has been very rare.
Wishing you great reviews!
I believe every Udemy instructor has experienced this journey — when a course has fewer reviews, a single negative review can have a disproportionate impact. Unfortunately, there’s little we can do about it. The best approach is to stay positive, focus on your well-being, and keep creating more great courses.
What’s even more discouraging is when a learner leaves a 1-star review and then requests (and receives) a refund — yet their review remains visible. According to Udemy, this is part of the reality of any online marketplace.
I have great respect for Udemy and truly hope they continue improving the review system to make it fairer for instructors. For now, take care of your health and channel your energy into your next course :)
Your comment on PP is what I will also agree. This PP is a short term solution to generate profits. A online course is not a movie marketplace where people subscribe to content. A knowledge content is more valuable than a entertainment content. However, Udemy folks are not listening to it since it affects instructors who are not established. Established instructors are getting all the traffic redirect due to PP model and they are the one who are sitting on the table with Udemy.
I'm not simply talking about platform ratings.
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@j0pewd It is a highly competitive world, and no one is obliged or dutybound to be fair to us or work in our interest. Ultimately, we must create our own path. While it is important for us to discuss, suggest, and collaborate to improve the ecosystem, we should also recognize the realities that not all people think and act alike.
I once knew someone who frequently ordered items on Amazon and returned them casually, almost as if browsing in a store. When I asked him to put himself in the seller's shoes and think how it feels, he rebutted saying why should he? He said he is the buyer and he is just making the best use of the provisions provided to him by the platform. If the seller finds it unviable, he can look for other alternatives. At the time, I disagreed with this view. However, over the years, I have come to understand that this is the environment we operate in.
We should acknowledge and appreciate those who treat us fairly, but we have no option other than ignoring those who do not. Instead, our energy is better spent adapting, innovating, and moving forward.
I don't think we normalize practices in the name of pragmatism. Pragmatism is different from the serenity to accept what we cannot change.
Yes, it hurts and it seems unfair. In my niche, because my learners are English language learners too, I wonder if some negative star ratings are because they misunderstood the English and thought one star was actually the top rating (Would ticking a word be better than selecting a star??).
But I see your post is more than just ratings … again I'm in the same boat - not in PP or UFB (and wondering why, my stats suggest my courses should be included…?) and feeling like Udemy may even be steering business away from me for their own purposes. Well, of course I would rather things were different. But at the end of the day, it is Udemy's platform, they don't require me to use it, I have the freedom to decide if I use them or not. They are nothing more than an agent working on my behalf. If I don't feel they are the right agent anymore, I am free to leave and try another one.
That said, I'm so sorry to hear about your health issues caused by all the effort you put into your course and I truly hope you get the outcome you deserve.
@j0pewd You are right. Many of us, probably most of us, are feeling exhausted by the poor communication from leadership, the dismissal of our concerns, the reduced earnings, the constant turnover of Udemy executives and staff, etc. etc. We do not have a reliable partner anymore. I can only hope that at some point it improves. I have to just accept that like many things in life that are beyond my control, I have to devote my energies in ways that I feel will be more productive. It is sad.
Yes, I completely agree. I only mentioned the rating aspect because that’s the part that personally concerns me the most. Another issue that troubles me is the increasing number of bugs, problems with coupons, inaccurate revenue reports (last month next to every course a revenue of 0$ appeared even though students paid for the courses), and students experiencing issues with the site. Reaching support has also become quite difficult, and overall, things feel much less reliable than before.
Hi @j0pewd. As @LawrenceMMiller responded, "You are right." And no it is not about "Reviews" it is something much deeper. As someone with 50+ years experience in the Software Engineering realm, and after years in the corporate senior executive IT ranks, and now years of training all levels in the corporate arena as well as the higher education ranks, I see one glaring issue.
Organizations are focused on being reactive, or as we say in the planning world, "tactfully focused." To be strategic, which is paramount for any organization to be successful, this means an organization must be "proactive." As someone who helps executives put together their 5 to 10 year strategic plans, I see this as one of the glaring problems now with Udemy. They're just reacting. And you "hit that nail on the head" in an earlier post of yours @j0pewd in this stream. And their reacting is getting worse monthly. I believe that their Quality Control is totally out of control with their regression testing not being done because that takes a ton of experience and increases costs. So what do organizations do, they do "happy path testing" not finding the defects that their fixes create in the problem they are currently working on.
This happening in organization after organization, and they eventually fall into disrepair and disappear from the marketplace. It's all about cost-cutting. Reducing highly paid support staff and substituting them, if they even do that, with lower priced, less experienced out-sourced resources. I have seen this countless times. And with the problems that I reported to support over the last 2 years or so, this is exactly what I have seen in the multitude of additional problems rising when support attempts to fix the initial problem.
Is this where Udemy is?
I teach Business Analysts to never look on the surface because on the surface, what you see as a problem Is not the problem, but the effect of the problem. A resulting outcome of the real problem. And so, to complete the process, the BA must determine the real cause. And then address this cause. This is why a good Business Analyst always conducts cause and effect analysis on all perceived problems. If you do that with what so many claim is a "Course Review Problem" you see that is a manifestation of a far greater problem that is revealing itself in this result. That is what Udemy must deal with otherwise things may not go so well for them.
I will end this comment with the quote that I posted yesterday in a discussion with Lindsay Marsh. This is a direct quote by Elon Musk made early this week:
"When a company prioritizes ideology over fundamentals, when management makes decisions based on what sounds good in board meetings, rather than what actually works in the real world, that company dies. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, but the outcome is inevitable."
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@Salman Alhiary and what about the 5* ratings which you receive and still your course ratings doesn't move by a single point? Will you let it go too?
@Col (Dr) Shabbar Shahid (Veteran) Hello sir, what if someone actually liked the product on amazon. he is dropping 5* review, spreading word regarding the product everywhere, but the rating system is not increasing your product ratings? What will you do in this situation?
As a consultant myself, I couldn't agree more. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@Col (Dr) Shabbar Shahid (Veteran)Hello sir, what if someone actually liked the product on amazon. he is dropping 5* review, spreading word regarding the product everywhere, but the rating system is not increasing your product ratings? What will you do in this situation?
@AnilThomas1692 Udemy designed the review system to ignore old reviews after a period of time. I believe all reviews that have passed in the past 4 months won't affect the current review. That means the bad reviews that are not in the current review window (more than 4 months) are counted but do not impact the current review score, which means after 4 months, the bad review that you have today is better than not having it at all, because the number of reviews is still essential.
I received a low rating today. I checked and the reviewer last visited the course in …. 2024! So much for the need of ‘engagement’ for the review to be ‘authentic’!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 contact the Udemy trust & Safety team chris, they will definitely help you in this regard 🤣
@Salman Alhiary yeah udemy has designed its review system in such a way which is causing trouble for instructors. This rating system is not at all favoring instructors at all. I received 14 five star review and my course rating moved by 0.3 points, yes 0.3 points. What is your take on that?
Dear @Agilemastery ,
I read your post and the comments — really interesting points all around. Without diving into everything, I just wanted to share a quick thought on this part:
"This happening in organization after organization, and they eventually fall into disrepair and disappear from the marketplace. It's all about cost-cutting. Reducing highly paid support staff and substituting them, if they even do that, with lower priced, less experienced out-sourced resources."
What stood out to me was the implied bias against outsourcing. Someone being highly paid doesn’t always mean they’re the most skilled — pay often reflects geography and market rates as much as talent.
Just thought it’s worth reflecting on that perspective too. And if not, well — maybe, as you said, the world really isn’t always fair.
I have nearly half the experience as you have and It would be great to learn few things from such a Senior person in the industry.
I think many of us can relate to what you shared, especially when it comes to how much pressure we place on ourselves. The pace of change in the online learning world is increasing faster than ever, and AI has become both a partner and a competitor. It feels like the ground keeps shifting, and we are expected to adjust immediately while still producing our best work.
One thing I have learned recently is that we do not always stop to consider the effect this work has on our health. Long hours in front of screens, irregular sleep, pressure to constantly update and improve, and trying to meet student expectations can slowly wear a person down. Sometimes we push through it without realizing the toll until our body forces us to slow down. I have had periods myself where I kept working through exhaustion because I did not want to fall behind or miss momentum. It is easy to forget we are human.
Creating courses on Udemy is not a passive income path. It requires ongoing care, improvements, responses, and updates if we want to stay visible. When you add the emotional weight of reviews and platform changes, it can become overwhelming.
For me, part of the solution has been to step back occasionally and think about the tools and interests I started with. Reconnecting with what originally inspired me helps restore some energy. I also began learning how to automate parts of my workflow with AI, not to replace my work, but to reduce repetitive strain. Since AI is not going away, it seems better to use it carefully rather than see it only as a threat.
Regarding reviews, I have also learned that not every negative review is meant to harm. Some students are simply expressing frustration or confusion. A few of my strongest long term students actually started as critics. That experience taught me to respond with patience, improve what I can, and avoid letting the emotional weight sink too deep. If a course is genuinely good, the overall quality tends to show over time.
As for the platform direction, it does feel like Udemy is searching for a strategy that fits the current market climate. The Personal Plan, the AI features, the shifting recommendations, and pricing experiments all point to Udemy trying to stay relevant in a very competitive environment. But the cost of that experimentation is often carried by instructors who are already under pressure. I do not think the platform intends to disregard instructors, but I do feel that many of us are feeling the strain of decisions that are not communicated clearly.
I hope we continue to speak about these issues honestly, because silence only makes instructors feel isolated. I also hope that Udemy finds a way to balance growth with the well-being of the people who create the content that keeps the entire platform alive.
You are not alone in what you are feeling. Many of us are working through the same questions. And your health truly matters more than any badge, rating, or revenue chart, really.
The review doesn't violate policy.
Maybe in 2026 some of my students from 2023, who completed the 2023 version of the course (it was around 50 hours then, not 100) will (without looking at any lectures) repost their review and perhaps add a sentence or two….
Reviews:
That experience taught me to respond with patience, improve what I can, and avoid letting the emotional weight sink too deep.
I'm not so sure that was always the case….
"Why, why are you doing this? The thousands of people that have been finding this course helpful and valuable are not stupid to rate it high now. I checked your progress in the course, you didn't even get to 2% in the course and you started transferring aggression to the course. You could have just asked for a refund instead of doing this. But I know my God whom I server will pay you back as you wish unto others. Because I know I did my best to put all the contents together to make sure I touch people's life positively with what I teach. As for my accent, I tried to be as audible as possible. We all have accents, even you guys from India do, too. Except there is no God, you will continue to reap what you sow. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, and have what you wish others. I know this course is good from other people's heart-felt sincere testimonies."
😀😁
Not always the case 😊. From my recent experience and what I’ve learned along the way, I try not to go too hard on myself anymore. Every course and interaction teaches something new, and I’ve found it’s more about steady progress and patience than perfection. I really appreciate your perspective - it’s a good reminder that we’re all learning and adjusting as we go.
hahahaahahahhahahahaahhhahhhahhahahhaahahhahahahahahahahahhaahaahahaha Caught him red handed by chris 🤣🤣🤣
To be fair, that response was perhaps better than one a year earlier:
"Can you see that you were wrong? I have added the update like I said, and another is still coming under few days.<br>So please if you have conscience, and have fear of God, edit or delete this review you placed while thinking no update was coming.<br>So please do the right thing.<br>God bless us all"
😀😁😂🤣
@ChrisBankes120 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
