Google Site Warnings via Phone?
-
I received a voicemail earlier stating that "there are two issues with your company's current Google listing that we need to discuss with the business owner. it is very important that we talk as soon as possible. press 1 to speak with an agent immediately. press 8 if you have already verified your account information or if you are no longer in business and want to be removed from this list. thank you" that's it. no contact number, no reference to what listing or what type of listing (organic, places, etc.) Checked GWT, GA, and the Gmail - there are no warnings or messages in any of those accounts.
Has anyone else experienced this?
-
Hi Keith,
Google does sometimes make phone calls. See:
http://www.localseoguide.com/hey-seos-if-google-maps-calls-dont-answer/
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/rXf6l1sXxgo
However, I am convinced that everyone on this thread is right and you were called by a marketing company. I've received calls like that, myself, in which the caller has gone out of the way to erroneously suggest that they are somehow connected to Google. When pinned down with the direct question, "You work for Google?", they have hung up the phone on me!
You were smart to ask about this, Keith.
-
It definitely sounded suspicious and thought it was a scam myself. Glad to see that others agree.
-
I would stay well clear of any company that resorts to those kind of tactics. Sounds more likely to be one of those scams than an SEO company.
-
Yeah that's definitely a sales call.
-
Sounds like it was a cold calling SEO company to me. Saying something is wrong with your site is one of the tricks they use to get your attention. I would not worry about it if I were you. You can also Google the number they called from and see who it belongs to most likely.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the best way to become a published writer / blogger for bigger industry sites?
I'm a younger SEO manager and wanted to started establishing my name throughout the industry through well written blogs, expert articles, and any advice that is needed. I know a lot of answers will be to start my own blog and establish that and I'll get noticed, but is there a good way to make the first contact with industry sites to get an article or blog post published to their site? Or is it a pretty tight "gotta know someone" inner circle?
Industry News | | MERGE-Chicago0 -
Did Google Search Just Get Crazy Local?
Hey All, I think it's a known fact at this point that when signed into a personal Google account while doing a search, the results are very oriented around keywords and phrases you have already searched for, as well as your account's perceived location; for instance when I wanted to check one of my own web properties in SE listings I would sign out or it would likely appear first as a false reading. Today I noticed something very interesting: even when not signed in, Google's listings were giving precedence to locality. It was to a very extreme degree, as in when searching for "web design," a firm a mile away ranked higher than one 1.5 miles away and such. It would seem that the algos having this high a level of location sensitivity and preference would actually be a boon for the little guys, which is, I assume why it was implemented. However, it brings up a couple of interesting questions for me. 1. How is this going to affect Moz (or any SE ranking platform, for that matter) reports? I assume that Google pulls locations from IP Addresses, therefore would it not simply pull the local results most relevant for the Moz server(s) IP? 2. What can one do to rise above this aggressive level of location based search? I mean, my site (which has a DA of 37 and a PA of 48) appears above sites like webdesign.org (DA of 82, PA of 85). Not that I'm complaining at the moment, but I could see this being a fairly big deal for larger firms looking to rank on a national level. What gives? I'd love to get some opinions from the community here if anyone else has noticed this...
Industry News | | G2W1 -
If I have a Google+ Business page, do I need a Google Places page as well?
It seems like the two are redundant? Any official word on this? I'm fairly OCD about things being tidy and I dont want to split my reviews / shares / etc between two profiles. Are they not the same thing? I searched for my company, both my plus business page and my places page came up. I attached a SS of the situation. placesvplus.png
Industry News | | jonnyholt1 -
Two Industry giant has occupied the Google SE First Page.
I have seen just two websites on Google SE first page one with 4 and second one is with 6 internal pages on Coupon related question/niche . What it means Is this a Google Dance or temporary fluctuation. ? Why Google don't consider other sites to show on first page? Many pages from askvila.amazon, yahoo answers and facebook pages are shown on second and third pages.? Is this meant that there are a lack of quality websites/pages for this industry or query? What do you say? Here is the SERPs from Google US.(as on July 09) http://bitly.com/Md8JFW http://bitly.com/LaT9yD Thanks Alex
Industry News | | alexgray0 -
Good time to start a niche site?
I am wondering, with all the recent changes in the algorithm, is this a good time to start a niche site? I know this can be fairly subjective, depending on the niche. But, anyone think this is a good opportunity?
Industry News | | inhouseseo0 -
Why Does OSE (Open Site Explorer) have such little backlink data on russian sites in the google.ru index?
OK this seems v strange, but google.ru are indexing far more BLs in their SERPS for a widget than OSE reports. Very little data is found in OSE for russian based sites. Is this the marketing intention? (I could send raw data if needed!) What is filtering this vast google.ru data list out? Is OSE only catered for US/UK?
Industry News | | Turkey0 -
Google+ profiles and Rel Author. Extensive question
A bit of a mammoth question for discussion here: With the launch of Google+ and profiles, coupled with the ability to link/verify authorship using rel=me to google+ profile - A few questions with respect to the long term use and impact. As an individual - I can have a Google+ Profile, and add links to author pages where I am featured. If rel=me is used back to my G+ profile - google can recognise me as the writer - no problem with that. However - if I write for a variety of different sites, and produce a variety of different content - site owners could arguably become reluctant to link back or accredit me with the rel=me tag on the account I might be writing for a competitor for example, or other content in a totally different vertical that is irrelevant. Additionally - if i write for a company as an employee, and the rel=me tag is linked to my G+ profile - my profile (I would assume) is gaining strength from the fact that my work is cited through the link (even if no link juice is passed - my profile link is going to appear in the search results on a query that matches something I have written, and hence possibly drain some "company traffic" to my profile). If I were to then leave the employment of that company - and begin writing for a direct competitor - is my profile still benefiting from the old company content I have written? Given that google is not allowing pseudonyms or ghost writer profiles - where do we stand with respect to outsourced content? For example: The company has news written for them by a news supplier - (each writer has a name obviously) - but they don't have or don't want to create a G+ profile for me to link to. Is it a case of wait for google to come up with the company profiles? or, use a ghost name and run the gauntlet on G+? Lastly, and I suppose the bottom line - as a website owner/company director/SEO; Is adding rel=me links to all your writers profiles (given that some might only write 1 or 2 articles, and staff will inevitably come and go) an overall positive for SEO? or, a SERP nightmare if a writer moves on to another company? In essence are site owners just improving the writers profile rather than gaining very much?
Industry News | | IPINGlobal541 -
Yahoo and Bing Search Factors Compared with Google
I have started my research to list all the factors Yahoo or Bing giving more importance compared with Google. This bible if successfully prepared will help everybody. Can anybody help me resources specific on the topic, that can help me?
Industry News | | WebMarketingSolutions0
