Fighting spam on Google Maps
-
"Suggest an edit" on Google Maps works occasionally and so does Google's Redressal Form. Sending a DM to @GoogleMyBiz on Twitter does too. But it seems like the vast majority of spammy businesses that I report, go unnoticed by Google. I'd really appreciate hearing from some other SEOs on how they remove crap from the map, with better results. Thanks.
-
So there are a few points to clarify here.
1. You cannot report spam on social to GMB anymore.
2. Your Local Guide level will not impact your results, it is all about the quality of edits. (look at your ratio of applied/not applied)
3. The turnaround on sam removal is 1 -2 weeks. Anything not removed has been either missed or deemed valid. (Submit it again)
4. You can't submit spam to the GMB community, it will be removed due to privacy concerns.Check out this article I wrote on getting stellar results from spam fighting https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/how-to-use-googles-spam-redressal-form-to-level-the-local-playing-field/
-
No, I haven't reported anything to the Google Help forum in a while. Got a link?
-
Good follow-up questions, Jason. I did the work in that article from a non-Google Local Guide account, so it would not be biased in any way. I also did all of the reporting myself, without asking for any backup support from folks suggesting additional edits, though that technique can sometimes be helpful. So, in this case, I don't believe my success was unusual or based on some unique factor.
Like I said, many Google processes are running really slowly right now. Have you reported the spam to the Google Help forum?
-
Miriam,
Thanks for sharing the two articles. I'm curious to know what your Google Local Guide Level is? In your Moz article, it appears you had very good results. Currently my guide level is a 5 and I'm thinking that has something to do with why I don't see the kinds of results you're seeing. Also, I am pretty much a team of one. Do you have a team of others who also click the "suggest an edit" button when you've identified spam?
-
Hi Jason,
Good topic! The pandemic has resulted in lowered responsiveness from Google in many areas, so that's one thing to keep in mind right now. Persistence is the best strategy for fighting entrenched local spam. You sometimes have to report things repeatedly, and when that doesn't work, if you uncover what appears to be a large network of spam, publicity can sometimes move Google to action when nothing else will. Here are a couple of good articles, in case you've not seen them:
https://moz.com/blog/simple-spam-fighting
https://www.sterlingsky.ca/ultimate-guide-fighting-spam-google-maps/
But you are so right that Google doesn't have a realistic approach to managing spam in their index. The problem is large, ongoing, and poorly addressed. Good luck!
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
-
Best address to use on Google business listing for youth sports program
Hello, Moz Community! I'm helping a friend with some local marketing for his youth sports program. He trains his kids at a community center and a public park where court times are managed by the city. His address in his Google business listing is currently the community center, but that is shared with multiple businesses including the community center itself. I know he needs an address that is unique to his business, but he lives outside of the city in which his program is located. Our goal is to boost exposure in the city in which his program is located. Since 1) his business address is located outside of the city in which he conducts business and 2) the addresses at which he conducts his business is utilized by multiple businesses including the actual property owner, what options do I we have for an address that Google will recognize as valid and won't cause ranking issues? If there is nothing we can do in the current situation, what are steps we can take to address this issue for his business? Thanks a lot!
Local Listings | | Tony_GP0 -
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business Knowledge Graph - Need Urgent Solution??
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business for our company. We have updated new image on google business But still, Google is fetching and showing old image on the google my business knowledge panel. What will be the right fix for this? Our site URL : www.yolobus.in
Local Listings | | AnkitS.19900 -
How do you select a Google category for the SERPs?
Recently I was looking up law schools in Texas and came across a SERP listing I had never seen before. Google provided the category "law school" and narrowed it down by geographic location. I checked the code on both websites for schema and was unable to locate it. Furthermore, one GMB listing was claimed and another was not. I'm wondering why both Texas A&M School of Law and Houston College of Law showed up but University of Texas Law School did not. I have attached a screenshot of the SERP to see if anyone has seen this before or can provide any insight. Search term was "list of law schools in texas" but the same snippet showed up for "best law schools in texas." Thanks 8XHvZt4.png
Local Listings | | DigitalMarketingSEO0 -
Google Plus Business Page is not showing up
Hello, I had 2 google+ business pages. But the website under those pages were different. For example, www.abc.com on 1st one and then www.xyz.com on 2nd one. Both of them had the different business name and website but same address and phone number. Also, www.abc.com domain was set as redirecting to www.xyz.com. My 1st business page was ranking good but I wanted to use 2nd one only so I called up google and asked them to remove the 1st one and then they closed it. Now, the problem is that I lost the 1st one and 2nd one is not ranking for any of the keyword (I have checked all the pages in the SERP and it doesn't show up anywhere until last page). I have fixed all the citations everywhere recently but no luck in getting ranking. Can anyone suggest what steps can be done to rank 2nd one now? FYI, I am talking about local places ranking, the domain www.xyz.com is ranked well in organic ranking. Any help is appreciated! Brian
Local Listings | | BrianBotts.0 -
Google not finding my site
I built a website, http://deeprootshgc.com. I submitted the site to google and have set up analytics. When I search for the site, deep roots home and garden center, I get their facebook page, manta and everything but the actual URL. Any thoughts?
Local Listings | | MarkBolin1 -
Heads up on new Google Local Guidelines
Good Morning All! I'm starting this thread just as a heads-up to all of the super folks in our community who live and breathe Local that Google has just launched one of the bigger overhauls of their quality guidelines that I've seen in some time. I want to be sure no one in our community misses this. Check out: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en Not only has the title and style of the page undergone a revamp, but don't miss these changes: Google abandons the use of descriptors. Now you see 'em, now you don't. I have to say, I knew from day one that these were not going to last and thought they were a terrible feature for maintaining NAP consistency. Significant tweaks to Google's explanation of choosing categories, including requiring the use of unique categories for different departments. I thought this was interesting because category differentiation has long been a Local SEO tip for reducing the risk of merging. Now, this practice is a guideline. New guidelines for naming practice/practitioner listings ...and a whole lot more! Mike Blumenthal has posted a good little post on the guideline update here: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/12/01/google-rolls-out-major-update-to-google-my-business-guidelines/ If you have a minute, check out the changes today, as you may discover you need to make some edits to your Google+ Local pages to be guideline-compliant.
Local Listings | | MiriamEllis4 -
Google Places: Can't link to website
Hi, how are you? I'm Having some problems with my clients Google Places/Plus listings. Everything is OK, but I can't get my website linked. I'm talking about what I point out in the image. I tried following this instructions: https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1713826?hl=en&ref_topic=3052532, but I can't find the Link website button next to my website URL. Do you know why is this happening? Thanks! 6v1eDG4
Local Listings | | arielbortz0 -
How do URL's influence Google Rankings?
Hi There, I have a new client who wishes to rank in Google UK for 'Antique Fireplaces London'. Currently they rank 49th. They do not know their logins for Google Local (where they have 40+ positive reviews). And have very mess social activity (which i am trying to sort out). The domain is around 8 years old - website has just been redone (drupal) where a lot of the former SEO errors were corrected) but they seem to be outranked by much newer websites that have much lower domain authority and less inbound links. My client also has much more recognition in online trade magazines and newspapers than most of their competitors. Would buying some additional domains with the keywords they wish to rank for help? Or will this look dodgy to google? Any other quick tips to give them a boost?
Local Listings | | skehoe0