Google ‘profiting from millions of false business listings on Maps’
False business listings on Google Maps are enabling scammers and pushing legitimate business down the rankings, with an estimated 11m falsely listed businesses on any given day (Wall Street Journal).
Key points
- Businesses are gaming the system by flooding locations with fake office addresses where they have no physical presence according to WSJ investigation
- Legitimate local businesses losing out to phantom listings by non-local competitors, with fake reviews compounding problem
- Google profiting as it packs more ads into Maps, and genuine local businesses spend to regain visibility
- Unscrupulous marketing firms have taken advantage by threatening businesses to pay for their services or they flood listings with phantom local competitors
- After the WSJ article, Google posts blog detailing its efforts to curb fake profiles and scammers
The WSJ article cranks up the pressure as U.S. regulators ramp up antitrust investigations – and the Murdoch-owned paper followed up with a piece on how to avoid fake Google map listings. Google says it is committed to “keep doing better”, but search experts say the problem is of its own making, with insufficient attention to system design with regard to listing authenticity. Search Engine Land also outlines how the Google My Business (GMB) system is open to gaming by spamming or keyword stuffing - with the problem well known for some time. It’s a trust issue that Google doesn’t need right now and it will need to better enforce its policies to address false listings. Otherwise it risks giving regulators and politicians looking for demonstrable theories of consumer harm all the ammunition they need.
