Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional offices"?

[Tim Colling]

Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional offices"?

A question re the Regus "centers" -

I have read that Google has said that they will penalize companies that use Regus centers to list them as additional offices for Google maps (map spam). I don't personally know of any specific examples of that penalization happening for specific instances involving Regus centers.

Do any of you know of specific examples? I have a prospective new client that has one such Regus "location" and I'd like to be able to make a well-grounded assertion about this to them.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

If a business uses a Regus office and is not actually physically present at that office during their stated hours, a user or competitor can report it and it will be removed. The algorithm rarely finds these automatically so you will probably see tons that rank. With Possum, I am also seeing tons of these are getting filtered. Especially with lawyers where there is like 4-6 different law firms using the same virtual offices. Google picks one or 2 and filters the rest.

 

[markwaldin]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

It is not automatically bad to do this. Read the Google rules and you will find they want the primary location of the business not satellites, unless customers can come to the location on a regular basis.

If they actually have Regus office space staffed and clients can stop in then it may indeed be a legitimate use.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

Hey Tim,

I agree with what Joy and Mark said. With Regus type office spaces, it's not Google you really need to worry about, it's regular mappers, Regional Leads...etc.

And yes, technically you can use a Regus office, but ONLY if it is staffed by the businesses actual employees, which is never the case.

 

[Scott ClientClicks]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

This is for you mappers with an itchy trigger finger. Don't assume that a location at a Regus address is unstaffed. I work with several lawyer clients that have regularly staffed Regus offices that are not virtual. They pay rent for a full time office and have been doing so for many years. Regus offers a variety of plans to their tenants including virtual and full time.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

I have lots of those types of clients too. I am advising them that it's more important than ever for them to make sure they have proper photos on their site proving they physically exist there.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

This is true Scott...

Many, many moons ago, I had a little start up and had a Regus (real) office.
I worked there every day and even did a demo for some Air Force generals there.
(Trip down memory lane...)

 

[chadkimball]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

to sum it up, if you use Regus, even if your regus office is staffed, you're asking for trouble. Everyone will assume it is fake and it may be a constant battle to keep it live.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

I second what Joy said. Take photos of your staff inside the office + signage. It sucks to have to do that for this reason, but spammers make it a necessary task.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

Regus is also problematic now with the filter. If other businesses in your same category are also using the same Regus address you are risking being filtered.

 

[freerunr]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

To re-jump-start this thread and hone in on something specific related to what Tim was asking, does anyone have specific examples of business' websites being penalized by the use of a virtual office that is in clear violation of the guidelines? I'm not referring to filtering of GMB pages (which would be local visibility), but specifically, Google limiting organic visibility of a website due to a GMB address being at a virtual space.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

Kerry,

Things that impact organic would impact the 3-pack since organic ranking is one of the factors that Google looks at when ordering the local results. It doesn't, however, work the other way. What hurts you in local doesn't impact organic.

 

[SEOExpertBrad]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

Most of the top organic seo guys in dallas are using virtual offices.....

 

[Pete]

So true, and it's the same in Dallas. The same violators always get away with this and they post fake reviews too.

 

[Tim Colling]

So true, and it's the same in Dallas. The same violators always get away with this and they post fake reviews too.

Report them, using the redressal form at: Business Redressal Complaint Form - Google My Business Help

 

[brettmandoes]

Re: Have specific examples of penalties for using Regus centers as "additional office

Regus is also problematic now with the filter. If other businesses in your same category are also using the same Regus address you are risking being filtered.

This is the specific reason I advised clients to avoid virtual offices. We've even had issues with strip malls where more than one company with the same primary category rented space. Google was counting it as one building with suite numbers.