Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
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
-
Google My Business answers not appearing
We've been trying to use the GMB Q&A feature as a lot of customers seem to be engaging with the listing/asking relevant questions. However, sometimes we answer a question directly from the business listing account but it does not appear (no error message is shown when posting either). When we go to re-post the answer, the text is sometimes still visible in the answer box field. Any ideas what might be causing the issue?
Local Listings | | Wagada1 -
Improve Google Business ranking
While my client's websites have been ranking well in SERP for their keyterms I'm at a lost on what I can do to improve their Google business/map presence. I'm referring to their listing where the top three come up or when you search on Google Maps.
Local Listings | | FPK
https://gyazo.com/26ec78ed7f712157ec72492199545431 Ex 1. Several months ago my client was ranked #1 both for SERP and maps until they dropped to 2nd on maps. Now they're ranked 1st in search yet 2nd for local business rankings as you can see from the screenshot above. At one point my client's business did have more reviews than the 1st ranking business yet they still weren't 1st. Ex. 2. Client(s) is ranked 4th in search and doesn't show in the top 3 map listings for their search term. If you click on More places to view Google Maps they're listed all the way down as the 15th listing or worse can't even be found when searching by their main SEO key term . Of course they are found by searching for their business name so it's not like there is a problem with the listing. I make sure to: Completely fill out their Google Business profile(NAP, hours and add pictures) Have my client try to gain positive reviews Manage and respond to reviews(mainly the negative ones) Add map and Google business link to their website Can anyone offer any other insight on what else can be done to improve their local presence on maps that I might be missing?0 -
Google Business - Adding location into business name
Hello, I've a client that has many services in different locations and addresses with the same website and phone number. But the thing is they want me to involve location name to business name. Is there a way to add and verify as bulk ?
Local Listings | | omeryamac0 -
Google Places - Remove Completely vs. Permanently Closed?
This is a bit confusing to explain so bear with me please. We have a client that used to have an old law practice with a partner. The site and backlinks were very large and it had a lot of domain authority. It also had a very large citation profile and history. The two lawyers have since split, but there remains multiple Google Places listings out there for the old partnership. We have fixed the one showing the old business practice name, but not the one that he setup for his personal name. One of the biggest hassles is that the old location he setup has his attorney name in the actual listing. The issue is that we cannot close the old listing (we tried this), as it comes up permanently closed when you Google his name. If you search for his new Law Firm, the correct business listing that we have set up will show. The new listing also includes his name and has over 50 five star reviews. We hoped that the large amount of legitimate reviews would get rid of or at least suppress the old listing, but it is not happening. So I am a bit confused as to what to do. If we close the old listing Google shows the red "permanently closed" listing when you Google his name. We cannot update the old listing information to show his new address as then it will compete with the new listing that we setup that shows all the positive reviews. The old listing was not created by us, and the new one was. The new one shows when you search for his Law Firm name in Google, but not for his personal name i.e "NAME HERE ATTORNEY" or "HIS NAME and LOCATION" Interested to hear your thoughts. The only way I can think to fix this is to contact Google directly and see if there is a way to permanently delete the listing from Google maps, but I am not aware that this is possible.
Local Listings | | David-Kley0 -
Is there a purpose to the "google my business" description?
Hi there Can someone tell me if the description serves a purpose in the google my business profile since:
Local Listings | | coolhandluc
a) It is not displayed anywhere as far as i have seen (maps, 3 pack local results, knowledge graph, organic results)
b) It is no longer considered as a ranking factor since it was abused so much Thanks0 -
Google Maps redirect notice on track-able URL's (how do I track maps visits in analytics?)
We've been using trackable URL's to track Google My Business visits in analytics for years.
Local Listings | | RedNovaLabs91
Example: ?utm_source=GoogleLocal&utm_medium=example&utm_campaign=example In the past month I've noticed Google showing a redirect notice on any listing with a trackable URL. It happened for a day or so a few weeks ago - and then it's been a more permanent situation since this past week. Redirect Notice
The previous page is sending you to: www.example.com
If you do not want to visit that page, you can return to the previous page. I'm fine with removing the trackable URL's - however - I'm not sure how to track maps visits via analytics without using them. I can't find any updated information on options. The last post on moz was in 2011 (http://moz.com/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics). The alternate tactics in that post no longer work. So my question is:
- How do I track Google Maps (My Business) visits through analytics without using tracking URLs?1 -
Competitor outranking me on google with their yelp, facebook and youtube pages
I'm working to rank for a local search term (my city wedding photographers). I'm frustrated that my competitor is outranking me not with their website (they are no. #9 and I'm #6) but with their Yelp account (#1) Facebook Account (#5) and Youtube account (#7 - not outranking me, but right below me). I'm going to continue working on my SEO to hopefully get higher up, but even then, they are basically dominating page 1 with their links. It gets worse on page 2. They are showing up 5 times for youtube/vimeo videos, and 1 time with a spammy landing page with no images, full of keyword anchored links to their main site. What gives? Since when are social media profiles outranking local sites on google organic searches? Could it be that our keyword is just so low competition that google has allowed all this stuff to rank so highly?
Local Listings | | studio35design0 -
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