GMB illegal edits to phone numbers
-
A client in the skip hire sector contacted me to say that someone is submitting edits to multiple competitors' GMB accounts changing the phone numbers to theirs. It has caused a huge row and legal ruckus as the competitors naturally assume it is them diverting calls. It definitely is not them but could be lead generation companies they use or other competitors trying to discredit them. They are growing fast and are upsetting longstanding players. Has anyone come across this before? If so how did you handle it and is there any chance of Google listening to them and assisting in the situation. Any advice is gratefully received. PS these guys are very ethical and are mortified at the situation they find themselves in.
-
Karen, thank you for letting me know you reported to Google directly and have seen no action. Here are your options at this point:
- I still recommend reporting to the GMB forum and pleading for a volunteer expert to help you, providing all the relevant details.
- Find out who is editing your phone number (see: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/gmb-listing-updates/) and consult a lawyer to help you contact the responsible party.
- Hire a good spam fighting consultant to see if they can escalate/resolve for you. Moz recommends Joy Hawkins' team, Sterling Sky, for work like this.
- Go to the press with the issue and see if you can raise enough of a ruckus to get Google to act. Often, they will act when things go public.
I hope one or more of these methods will work for you in this extremely difficult situation. Please, let me know if you have any further questions. I'm so sorry for what you're experiencing.
-
@miriamellis thank you for your response. We have contacted Google directly but they did not seem bothered and have taken no action.
-
@karenjames I'm so sorry to hear about this. This is, unfortunately, a well-documented form of listing spam known as hijacking. Please, report the situation in the Google My Business community forum here: https://support.google.com/business/community?hl=en
You'll need to be willing to share the details of the businesses in question. If you can't do so, you'll need to try to contact Google support directly with documentation of what is happening, but be advised that response times have become very slow during the pandemic. Use this free local SEO cheat sheet to explore your contact options: https://moz.com/blog/local-seo-cheat-sheet
Your best bet is likely to bring this to the forum, and hope a volunteer will take notice and help you.
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
-
Unsolved google places suspended
Hello everyone, my google places was suspended when I joined Moz Local and used the service.....any idea whats going on?
Moz Local | | Scoopity0 -
Disconnect MOZ Local and Google My Business
I've had problems with one of our eight branch locations when I connected GMB to Moz Local about a year ago. The location was suspended for being a duplicate. I would like to sever the connection so I could keep Moz Local live but at least temporarily delete the suspended Google My Business. Also, if you might have any guides or tutorials on performing this task it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Local Listings | | gallowaywebteam0 -
In 2 days, a loss of 20 reviews
Hi Mozers, I have a cosmetic dentist client, in Belgium, who had 95 reviews. And in 2 days, he lost 20 good reviews (10 reviews per day), from real customers. The problem is that his rating went down drastically because they were only 5 star reviews. Yesterday he got a 5 star review from a real customer and this morning he disappeared. Have you ever experienced such a scenario? What could be the cause? Thank you in advance for your help. Kind regards,
Reviews and Ratings | | JonathanLeplang
Jonathan0 -
GMB Account Fallen Off Rankings in past 24 hours
My map pack presence has fallen off the face of the earth over the last 24 hours. My location The Escape Game Chicago was top 3 yesterday for 'escape room chicago' and now they only show up when searching for the exact brand name. What's weirder is I still rank #1 organically for that keyword.I have looked through the account, nothing seems to be totally amiss. Google has not notified me of any issues or penalties. I have no clue what happened.Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide some insight as to how I can recover my ranking?
Local Listings | | danieldaher0 -
GMB 1 listing for store , multiple additional listings for outside sales reps
I am working with a business that has setup their google my business as: 1 main GMB for store location with its physical address and unique phone - ie business name "ABC Lumber" 1 GMB account for the business name followed by the city name ie. "ABC Lumber Santa Monica" with an address in Santa Monica and different phone than the store location GMB Account but points to same website. Another GMB account for called. "ABC Lumber Redondo Beach" with an address and same phone as the Santa Monica GMB account but points to same website. So basically there is a main account which is the store, and then the sales reps want to create multiple GMB accounts of their own that are service area only accounts. Do you see a problem with this?
Local Listings | | lkbackus0 -
Radius Size around GMB location for google local search
We are a digital marketing agency Our clients are (virtually all) retail automotive dealerships. We compete in various market places coast to coast (USA). Since Google puts retail automotive dealerships under Local SEO umbrella, is it known ( published ) how large is the radius around my client's Google My Business rooftop's address? How wide is their search 'reach' according to Google? Asked another way, in a triangular, three SEO geo area, with one city being at the epicenter of the population dispersion, and my client, versus my client's competitors being different distances from where the majority of the population emanates from, all other SERP factors being equal (assumption) between the two competitors, how far is each clients REACH from a Local Search standpoint. Is this known? Published by Google. ONE example: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/BMW+of+South+Albany,+U.S.+9W,+Glenmont,+NY/42.7662693,-73.8138088/@42.6727121,-73.7993527,12z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m5!1m1!1s0x89dde0fe8829c405:0xd915fb9b3b60bf33!2m2!1d-73.7973301!2d42.589211!1m0!3e0
Local Listings | | GaryT_SEO1 -
How to verify Google My Business (GMB) account in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Hi folks, I know the majority of you are based in the US, so won't be experiencing the same problem as me. I have set up a Google My Business account for a company here in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The only problem is that I can't verify it using the normal methods like a postcard being sent out as the UAE doesn't have a postal service, so there are no postcodes to target an address. Basically I go through the process of creating a GMB account, setting the address details and map marker, then try to verify the account by postcard (this is the only way). I wait 14+ days but still no postcard arrives for obvious reasons - no postal address! So - my question is, how do we get round this problem? I know it can be done as there are plenty of businesses out there in Dubai that are verified on Google maps and GMB. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Local Listings | | SeoSheikh0 -
[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