Does Google call your satellite offices and ask what's down the street?
-
Is this a real thing? Do they actually do this? Should I be concerned and train my receptionists to know their surroundings?
-
Never experienced and heard this before. In first sounds like a scam, then I have gone through many online communities to ask this. I found that yeah Google does calling for verification of your local addresses.
-
As a marketing agency, everyday we are bombarded by "Google listing verification checks", which are a telemarketers way for lead generation. They don't even realize they are calling an online marketing agency until they ask more questions. I wouldn't call it a SCAM, just poor solicitation.
-
We are a marketing agency in a fairly "corporate park" type area and have not ever had this happen to us. From some of the above responses I guess it is legitimate though? We are in the U.S. and will keep an ear out for this if it ever happens to us.
-
whow, in spain there are a lot of problems with all a new commerces in the same place
-
-
Hey Slumberjac!
Whew ... that was an alarming experience you helped the client through. Well done! Thanks for sharing your story.
-
Hi Donald!
Thanks for sharing these anecdotes with us all. Good ones!
-
Yes,
Google have been trying to stop people gaming their "local search" feature.
People are listing their business as "somewhere customers can visit" with opening hours etc, when in fact it is a home address or they are not at that address at all.
I had a client that didn't give Google the information they wanted when they called and they deleted their Google + listing that had 100+ genuine reviews! I had to ring Google and we had to take pictures of outside and inside the office to prove they were at that address.
It is now listed again! PHEW
Google are being quite aggressive with their approach so I would make sure your listing is accurate and staff are ready to answer any questions about your location and business hours.
-
Miriam,
I had trouble getting a client verified. I got google on the phone, they did ask me specific questions about what was across and down the street. After answering, they verified my clients business right on the phone. I asked if they were using google street view to verify my answers, the google representative said he could not answer that question. The final verification was they called my client to make sure the number was legit.
With that said, I never had them call me directly for verification purposes. Any call I get claiming to be google representatives has always been spam.
Thanks,
Don
-
That's a good guess, EGOL. Google definitely does call, and there have been instances in the past where failure to answer the phone with the exact name on the listing have resulted in being "caught" for spam, and many other scenarios I've seen. I like your intuition here about why Google might be asking what is down the street. I think they should also add, "And how's the weather outside your building today, hmm?"
-
Sounds rather aggressive.
Yes. It is also aggressive to fake a location. Might be criminal in some situations.
Perhaps Google does this in response to competitor reports, and, in which they can't confirm the presence of an office through public information.
-
it was 2015 and they were questioning the DC office only
-
Hey Marketing CH and Kevin,
Interesting! First I have heard of Google asking what is across the street/down the block from a business. Sounds rather aggressive. Might be worth posting in the Google My Business forum to see if you can get verification from Google that they are, indeed, asking for this specific type of info.
-
Hi Kevin, thanks for your response! How long ago did this happen? Did they ask for info about all of your physical locations? Or just your main office? Thanks in advance!
-
Yes, Google has called our main line asking for information across the street, down the block, etc. We had to prove we occupied our address, which is our sales office in DC. We currently have 6 addresses, with 4 physical locations,1 sales office and another obtained in the acquisition of another business.
-
What? This is the first time ever I've heard this, sounds like a total scam to me.
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
-
Has anyone tried using AMP links in Google Business Listings?
We have a client with multiple locations, and Google Business listings for each location. We've also created AMP pages for each of those location landing pages, and they're ranking on page one of their main queries, just below the local pack. We're wondering if anyone has tried pointing a GMB website listing at an AMP page, or if there are considerations to keep in mind before testing it out. So far, we've discussed whether to use the AMP url (amp.domain.com) or the Google viewer url (google.com/amp/s/amp.domain.com), and potential concerns for desktop users.
Local Listings | | WompM0 -
Is there a way to see all of the Google My Business Accounts that Have been created for a Property?
I feel like so many of my clients have multiple Google my Business Pages for one location. Is there a way to get a list of all of the Google My Business Pages that exist for a given property and then effectively remove duplicates? Thanks, Adam
Local Listings | | aj6131 -
[Local Search] Do you get penalized by using a Google Voice number for each seperate business location?
My client is expanding and opening up separate locations and I will be getting all their online business listings up and running. The client wants to use a single 1-888 number for all locations, however, it was my assumption that they would need a local number for each location to improve their ranking. Could I suggest using free Google voice numbers that get forwarded to their 1-888 number or will Google discredit us for this?
Local Listings | | aedesignco0 -
Google My Business
I have a quick question about Google my Business listing. If moving a business to a new location, would all you need to do is edit the listing with the new NAP? The business is verified. Would I need to do anything else? Thanks for your help.
Local Listings | | Kdruckenbrod0 -
Google keeps updating/tweaking my Local business branch addresses ? to whats different in my citations and on page. how can I stop it?
Hi All, I have a number of branches as we have separate branch pages and separate google local listings for these. I have been trying to keep them in consistent for citation purposes but google keeps trying to tweak the address in the local listings. Sometimes for example , google is trying to remove the premises number from the Road e.g 78 Doncaster Road is the actual branch address but google local business wants it as Doncaster Road, I also see Google is wanting to sometimes remove the locality name etc?.. Also If the local listing has a county ( in America - you would have State) , google is sometimes wanting to remove this add United Kingdom in Country instead ?. Is this a problem and how to deal with it as I think this is obviously impacting my local rankings?. If i approve all these changes then do I need update all my citations and page addresses all the time ? Or can I just leave the suggested "Update" or overwrite googles suggestion with what I had originally. Does anyone else have this problem ? thanks pete
Local Listings | | PeteC120 -
Google Places Australia - Categorisation Issue
Hey guys, I know that this doesn't quite fall under this community, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I've got a client currently who is an Electrician. They're primarily electricians that offer a lot of services, such as air conditioning installations, LED lighting, Solar Panel & heaps more, currently I'm trying to properly categorise the Google Places listing. I'm looking at other Google Places listings in the "Electricians Melbourne" type searches & many of them have Electrician as a category. However, when I attempt to do this, I'm unable to get the same result.
Local Listings | | KBB_Digital
Has anyone else seen this, or know why I can't get Electrician as a category & when others are?0 -
Removing website from search while you have Pending Google Places Listing
Hello, If you have assign a website in Google places that is in Pending mode, and you removed the website in WMT, from the searches. Will be denied in google places? Thanks for your help.
Local Listings | | EVERWORLD.ENTERTAIMENT1 -
Are citations the way to go even if there is no Google Places listing
If there are no Google Places / Local listing for a keyword search term, for example... "web design vancouver", do building citations still help in enabling websites to move up the organic rankings?
Local Listings | | Gavo0