Comments on: Robert and his locksmith encounters-A Google Local spam story

By: http://www.myspace-design.com

http://www.myspace-design.com — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:17:10 +0000

Thank you for that nice post. Our company has done a lot of research along the same vein. Sadly, I don’t think Google is making any headway on the problem.

By: londonhotelsrussellsquare

londonhotelsrussellsquare — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:05:18 +0000

It's a bit unfortunate that there are loopholes in the system. We have submitted our details but we don't even show up when you put in our exact company name. I know there is no duplicate of our listing

By: Techiegirl

Techiegirl — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:32:23 +0000

This is an example of how it is becoming harder and harder to sift through information to get to what is real and valuable. It is good to know about this since I use google so much to search for pretty much anything and everything. I like to support local businesses. As a consumer, what can I do? Skip to the third page of google listings? I guess in some ways it is still better to rely on talking to my neighbors to find out whose services to use. It seems that as soon as a new technology is introduced, the best way to manipulate it for self serving purposes is not far behind.

By: Graeme

Graeme — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:21:08 +0000

I'm in Australia and haven't seen this happening over here yet, but have no doubt that it will, unless Google does something about it. It's a shame that so many sections of the Internet are completely filled with fake reviews for SEO/link purposes. It's turning some sections of the net into one big pile of junk mail.

By: floridamarketingconsultants

floridamarketingconsultants — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:29:21 +0000

It is unfortunate with how hard it is to get in organic results that it is so simple to get into local search with basic tricks. Try to play by google's rules with link building etc and maybe 10 years later you might actually place well. We have a fantastic marketing company and brilliant website but because we have not paid for link exchanges or spammed the review section of local search, we don't rank as well as we should. I remember hearing the same comments 5 years ago, it will get better… Has it really? Never could figure out why replying to blog articles makes your website rank better. Sure I get it but does it make any sense? It still is not natural placement. No different than maps.

By: scottmcandrew

scottmcandrew — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:59:43 +0000

@acmelocksmith - I read your Locksmith Fraud info on your site. It was after I posted some of my findings/frustrations above, but before you had commented. I believe I also saw some of your frustrations aired on the Google Maps Group also.

I sincerely can't believe how little has changed with so much light on the topic. I actually read that Google's AdWords team (I believe it was the AdWords team, not the Maps or Local team) was thinking of new ways to monetize local search results. That's a tough nut to swallow for the little guy. The cards are stacked against you, and Google's answer is to find a paid advertising scheme out of it.

I don't think that Local should go away. In many ways Local is a foregone conclusion with mobile really taking hold. Ultimately, Google, Yahoo and Bing will clean things up; it just can't happen soon enough!

By: scottmcandrew

scottmcandrew — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:55:01 +0000

@scovert – sorry for the late reply. I'm pretty disappointed with my commenting system's spam handling, but I finally got around to cleaning things up a bit. Google will (hopefully) eventually clean this up; its unfortunate that it is so gamable–there are sites that are going far against the posting guidelines and common sense for spam detection but still easily making it onto map listings.

By: acmelocksmith

acmelocksmith — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Excellent post! Our company has done a lot of research along the same vein.

Sadly though, I don’t think Google is making any headway on the problem. My legitimate, and verified, listing got removed. In its place were new listings that didn’t exist—one right across the street from our shop. I’m seeing new listings show up nearly daily that don’t exist (they’re empty lots, residential addresses, or other businesses). Google needs to just get rid of the “local” maps product (as does Yahoo and Bing) or start charging such outrages sums no one could afford thousands of posts. I just don’t see how they can fix the problem without further damage to the legitimate companies.

You can read what we’ve learned about Phoenix Locksmith Fraud by visiting the Knowledge Center on our website.

By: scovert

scovert — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:56:04 +0000

A well written eye-opening post. Thank you.

Some of the comments here appear to be spam, btw.

As a heavy adwords advertiser, this is just one more stupid gaming-the-system problem I now need to be aware of. Until google fixes it, of course. That's the good thing – we KNOW they'll fix it.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:55:56 +0000

I have had someone (intuitivefitness.com.au) do this to my business www.fitnessenhancement.com when you google personal trainer gold coast. They have somehow stolen/merged their lisitng with mine so my listing links to their site, not mine. They also have ove 100 fake listings! How do I fix this? I have reported it to google but will they actually do anything? Thanks for any advice!