How To Fight Google Business Profile Spam

Local SEO spam is a persistent issue for Google and is currently on the rise. Service area businesses and local brick-and-mortar establishments are the ones most affected by local SEO spam. This is how you should deal with Google Business Profile spam. But first, let’s define what Google Business Profile spam is.

What Is Google Business Profile Spam?

Google Business Profile spam occurs when a company or person exploits ranking factors for the Google Maps pack and manipulates their profile to improve their ranking positions. They do this by stuffing keywords and locations, using fake reviews, using fake addresses, or creating multiple listings. These fake or false profiles drown out the real businesses in the search results and make it difficult for the searcher to determine which business is authentic.

Why Do Businesses Use Spam Techniques On Their Profiles?

Businesses use spam techniques on their Google Business profiles to gain an unfair advantage against their competition and rank higher in the local search results. 

These methods often give a quick boost in organic visibility. The methods are easy to implement, such as creating fake listings, keyword stuffing the business name, and getting fake reviews.

The Primary Motivation Of These Spam Techniques Is As Follows:

Faster Rankings Locally: These techniques will provide an immediate position increase in Google without any additional work. A keyword-stuffed business name and a few bought reviews with keywords in it, and you may have beaten out a business that has been around for 20 years.

Increased Visibility In Google Maps Pack: The above changes to the name and reviews would see your business increasing its online visibility. As your Google Business Profile will be shown more often under a variety of different related queries, you will note more business inquiries coming in.

Why You Should Fight Google Business Profile Spam

Fighting Google spam in the maps pack isn’t just about fairness or being fair. It is about protecting the integrity of local search and your own business’s visibility in search. Your business may also be losing revenue to these fake business listings that are misleading customers. It is far too easy to exploit the Google Maps pack with profile manipulation.

The Impact This Can Have On Your Business

• You can lose business, customers, and revenue to the spam listings as they push your business down in the search engine rankings. You will lose out on website visits and phone calls to the fake businesses.
• It is unfair competition; it is a dishonest way of trying to do business. Legitimate businesses should do their best to put a stop to it.

What Are The Signs That A Business Is Spamming The GBP?

There are various signs that a company is manipulating its Google Business Profile. There are two main ways businesses can use spammy tactics. These are manipulations of their business information or business reviews for their gain. Let’s look at each individually.

Manipulation Of Business Information:

Keyword And Location Stuffing The Business Name: Businesses will change the name of the business in order to improve their rankings. This change would include “stuffing” the business name with keywords mentioning the business’s primary service and even its location. For example, if you are a plumber in Phoenix, AZ, and your business is John’s Plumbing, a spammy listing may include:

John’s Plumbing Service Phoenix | Scottsdale | Tempe  | Mesa

As you can see, they are optimizing for plumbing services in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Mesa. Even though the company’s name is just John’s Plumbing.

Examples of Google Business Profile Name and Location Spam:

Fake Addresses: Businesses would use fake addresses for their listings. These addresses go against the formal Google Guidelines. You are not allowed to use P.O. Box addresses, virtual addresses, co-working spaces, or any address where there isn’t someone permanently there, like an employee. You should also have visible signage on the building.

Duplicate Listings: Duplicate listings come in the form of having multiple listings in an area with slight differences in the name or address. In some cases, they may even lead to the same site with different pages or just different sites under the same LLC.

Manipulation Of Reviews:

Review manipulation can come in the form of bought reviews, generic reviews, review gating, or suspicious reviews.

• Buying reviews or providing compensation for a 5-star review. You are not allowed to compensate some for their review or pay people to give you a great review. It should be natural.
• Generic reviews also pose a problem. Reviews like “great, thanks” or “Excellent” don’t offer much context and should be treated as spam. It is worth noting that some people might genuinely give a one-word review. Please keep that in mind.
• Only asking satisfied clients to give you a review. This is also a common one. You also can’t discourage someone from leaving you a review if they are unhappy.

How To Clean Up And Report Google Business Profile Spam 

There are various ways to clean up and remove spam from the local search results. Each type of spam has a slightly different method of reporting spam. Serious spam issues require the submission of a Google Business redressal complaint form.

Spam Reviews

To clean up spam reviews, you can report each spam review directly and provide a reason as to why it is spam. It is a two-step process.

How to report a spam review step-by-step:

Step 1: Find the spam review in the review section, and click “report”.

Step 2: Once you have reported the review, it will ask you to provide a reason why it is spam. Reasons may include “spam” or “off-topic”.

Spam Business Listing

For a spam business listing, you would opt to “suggest an edit”. This method works well for keyword stuffing and location stuffing, as well as businesses using fake addresses. This is how you “suggest an edit”.

How to clean up a spam listing:

Step 1: Find the spam listing on Google and click “suggest an edit”. This would be where you would correct all the information.

Step 2: The second step would be to correct the information. This may require the removal of keywords from the business name. You will need to add the correct business name to the field.

Step 3: If you have any other changes that need to be made, such as suggesting a location change, that would also need to be done here. You may need to move a pin, use a more appropriate location, or remove it entirely if it isn’t a legitimate business location.

Step 4: The fourth step is to provide evidence of the spam, such as a screenshot of the location or the website with the actual business name.

Serious Spam Or Persistent Issues

For serious spam or persistent issues, you would need to submit a Google Business Redressal Complaint Form. The complaint form is for malicious or fraudulent listings. You can submit a complaint form, and you have the ability to submit a one-time appeal.

When submitting a business redressal form, you should provide as much detail as possible and fill out one form for each part of the entry that is incorrect. This form is reviewed by a human, so providing complete and accurate information is crucial.

You may appeal a review decision if it is not removed after being flagged. This is a one-time only appeal. 

To appeal the review, please do the following:

Step 1: Go to the reviews management tool and find the option to “submit an appeal”. From there, you can manage your appeals for your Google Business Profiles. You can select up to 10 reviews to appeal at once.

Step 2: You may need to submit more documentation before the appeal happens.

How Do I Report A Fake GBP Profile?

Reporting a fake Google Business Profile is simple. It is a process whereby you submit information on the offending business and follow the prompts.

Step 1: Find the fake profile, open the listing, and click “suggest an edit”.

Step 2: Choose “close or remove” and pick the most relevant option, such as the company “doesn’t exist here” or a duplicate of another place.

Step 3: Fill out any details necessary, such as screenshots of the fake profile, the business it is impersonating, or anything else they may request.

Step 4: Click “submit”.

If you suspect a business you are reporting has malicious intent, you may want to submit a “Google Business Redressal Form” instead

Conclusion

There are many ways to fight Google Business Profile spam. This is an ongoing problem local businesses face on a regular basis. Luckily, the solution to fix this ongoing problem is somewhat straightforward. Does your business also struggle with this problem?

If you need help with your Google Business Profile or would like to learn about our Digital Marketing Services, contact us today.