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A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
41–50 of 150 posts
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#42My time to shine as someone who's pretty deep in this game. There's an enormous and growing market of fake GBPs for the purpose of selling leads called Local SEO Lead Gen. (each entity can bring in thousands of dollars/month.) The thinking is why go through the headache of dealing with clients who can fire you the day after they begin ranking (Local SEO is heavily "front loaded" work wise), will always try undercutti…
The weird thing is that it’s often impossible to manage your own GBP. I was on the board of a small private school where a couple of knucklehead students posted some weird reviews. We couldn’t do anything until I was able to leverage a high level google contact, which is something I hate to do.
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#43My time to shine as someone who's pretty deep in this game. There's an enormous and growing market of fake GBPs for the purpose of selling leads called Local SEO Lead Gen. (each entity can bring in thousands of dollars/month.) The thinking is why go through the headache of dealing with clients who can fire you the day after they begin ranking (Local SEO is heavily "front loaded" work wise), will always try undercutti…
> Oh and the real masters of this business model? Well they don't bother SELLING the leads to contractors, they will quite literally start their own company and will hire their own plumbers, electricians, concrete crews, etc to squeeze as much profit as possible.
Now, this part is funny. It's come full circle to a legitimate business. (Kind of)
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
One thing I don't understand is why many or most of these fake businesses weren't thwarted by postcard verification. I could only come up with a couple possibilities: - Google stopped doing postcard verification, or a loophole in the creation process lets savvy scammers avoid it (like an alternate verification method or providing a different address for the postcard). - New business entries go live before the postcar…
Getting an address = potentially thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in profit. Being creative on how you attain addresses is one of the main criteria for this business model. One unique method is working exclusively with a local plumber, electrician, etc and HAVING THEM get you the addresses while you retain control of the GBP entity and sell them the leads. The pitch goes like "you've seen the success I'v…
Thank you. That makes sense for a lot of cases. I saw some business names that had 50+ locations in one city, but I guess given enough motivation, that can be done.
Related: I submitted edits for some of the businesses (marking them "Doesn't exist") and Google rejected the edits. My Maps contribution history says "NOT APPLIED - Google couldn't verify your edit" for a long list of fake businesses. If that's how they process reports - about new businesses with obviously anomalous reviews - it's no wonder this continues.
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#45Gaming the system never ends. I recall reading like 2 years ago where someone would drive around in a car with 50+ smartphones asking google maps for directions to pump up business rankings for GMB.
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#46I got scammed by this exact type of thing when I needed a tow truck ASAP to jump my car. They had a fake business <1 mile away with lots of good reviews. After giving them my credit card info right away and after a long delay, I gave it more scrutiny and realized it was definitely a fake business. I called multiple times to figure out where the F$&@ my tow truck was, each time talking to a different person with a filipino accent. An impressively sophisticated scam, Im not sure how google could fight it
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#47My time to shine as someone who's pretty deep in this game. There's an enormous and growing market of fake GBPs for the purpose of selling leads called Local SEO Lead Gen. (each entity can bring in thousands of dollars/month.) The thinking is why go through the headache of dealing with clients who can fire you the day after they begin ranking (Local SEO is heavily "front loaded" work wise), will always try undercutti…
> GBP Google Business Profile. its common courtesy to use the full name with the first use, THEN abbreviate.
(edit: deleted. sorry for engaging in this)
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#48My time to shine as someone who's pretty deep in this game. There's an enormous and growing market of fake GBPs for the purpose of selling leads called Local SEO Lead Gen. (each entity can bring in thousands of dollars/month.) The thinking is why go through the headache of dealing with clients who can fire you the day after they begin ranking (Local SEO is heavily "front loaded" work wise), will always try undercutti…
> GBP Google Business Profile. its common courtesy to use the full name with the first use, THEN abbreviate.
[deleted]
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
> GBP Google Business Profile. its common courtesy to use the full name with the first use, THEN abbreviate.
(edit: deleted. sorry for engaging in this)
bad netiquette is rude. Forcing people to internet search a comment just to understand it is quite rude.
Re: A large network of fake Google Maps comments/reviews and fake businesses
#50I got scammed by this exact type of thing when I needed a tow truck ASAP to jump my car. They had a fake business <1 mile away with lots of good reviews. After giving them my credit card info right away and after a long delay, I gave it more scrutiny and realized it was definitely a fake business. I called multiple times to figure out where the F$&@ my tow truck was, each time talking to a different person with a fil…
pay after you get the service