The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article about an estimated 11 million fake business listings on Google Maps. That same day, Google released both a response to the article and updates to Google My Business (GMB). For the real businesses that are dealing with fake listings on Google Maps, these latest updates appear to be a quick solution to Google’s ongoing battle with fake business listings.
Google Maps’ Fake Listing Problem
With more than 200 million businesses listed on Google Maps, fraudulent listings take up about 7.3% of all businesses on Google Maps. Using a combination of Google’s own internal system and flagged listings by users, Google has been working to decrease the appearance of fake listings. Last year alone, Google took down more than 3 million fake listings, but they continue to grow year after year.
Why are people making fake listings? We have some thoughts.
- Competitors: Competitors create fake listings in order to provide consumers with inaccurate contact information.
- Scammers: Scammers create fake listings to in order to swindle people out of money, like the situation profiled in the WSJ article where a woman unknowingly hired a fake contractor off Google who charged her double.
Fake listings are causing consumers to lose trust in Google Maps and the real businesses that rely on GMB to acquire customers, which is why it’s so important that Google is making updates to combat fake listings.
GMB New Features & Google Maps Update
Google’s recent Google My Business update includes several features that are designed to help both consumers and Google itself to distinguish fake business listings from real ones. This update introduces some features that reward active and accurate businesses:
- Logo Feature: Google is rewarding businesses who complete their core information (business name, phone number, address, hours, website, categories, description) by displaying their logo to the right of their profile. This will help consumers identify real listings from fake ones.
- Cover Photos: Google is now giving businesses the opportunity to showcase their personality by choosing their preferred cover photo. This has not always been the case, but this type of control lets business put their best foot forward.
- Photo Displays: Google is introducing a new module that will prominently display photos uploaded by the business.
- Welcome Offers: Businesses can now reward customers who follow the businesses’ GMB profile with custom discounts or offers.
- Short Name and URL Searchability: Business owners can now claim a short name and URL for their business. With this URL, businesses can easily refer customers back to their Profile – to catch up on latest updates, to make a booking, or to write a review after a visit. In the coming months, people will also be able to search short names in Maps.
- Offline Marketing Materials: Google launched a new website that allows businesses to purchase offline marketing materials like stickers, posters, and other items that are generated from GMB profile content.
Coming Soon: Google will be highlighting the top 5% of GMB profiles in a particular category as a “Local Favorite”. These businesses will earn both digital and physical badges of honor. This is Google’s way of recognizing brands who “consistently deliver a great experience for people”.
If these latest updates sound a little familiar, you’re not alone. Google seems to be taking inspiration from other similar applications. Welcome offers are a page straight out of Yelp’s playbook, and we’ve all seen the favorite lists and business stickers from Yelp and TripAdvisor before. As for the short name searchability and following a business’ features, that has social media written all over it. Google is clearly dedicated to becoming a consumer’s one and only source for business information.
How to Take Advantage of New GMB Features & Latest Google Updates
Google has made one thing clear with these most recent updates – the businesses who actively update and maintain their GMB profiles will be rewarded. Show that you’re active on GMB by doing the following:
- Respond to all your reviews.
- Participate in Google Q&A.
- Utilize Google Posts for updates, deals, and events.
- Implement CUBrandMonitor to stay on top of it.
With 25% of the Google Search Ranking Factors coming from GMB signals, keeping your GMB profile up to date is one of the biggest factors in optimizing your brand’s online visibility.
