Insane New Spamming Tactic on Google Maps

[JoyHawkins]

This is NUTS. I've seen this several times in the last few weeks.

People are noticing that several businesses with completely different addresses are all now showing up pinned at the same location.

I think there is a good chance this is intentional. Why? Because Google filters out businesses at the same location. So if you want your competitors to disappear, just move their pins to the same location, and they will vanish on Google.

I'm gonna send this to Google, but, in the meantime, be on the lookout for the businesses you work for/with.

 

[Pam Weber]

This is NUTS. I've seen this several times in the last few weeks.

People are noticing that several businesses with completely different addresses are all now showing up pinned at the same location.

I think there is a good chance this is intentional. Why? Because Google filters out businesses at the same location. So if you want your competitors to disappear, just move their pins to the same location, and they will vanish on Google.

I'm gonna send this to Google, but, in the meantime, be on the lookout for the businesses you work for/with.

This happened to one of our clients. We were able to get the pin moved back quickly as they had moved it to a completely different city within Florida. Crazy.

 

[Marcin Karwowski]

I saw this once with fewer pins. But this is a higher level of spam.

 

[Hec93]

Hi people of good in the SEO!

I am experiencing this issue with one of my clients in the plumbing industry. Even tough we were able to move the pin back to the client´s original location, we keep finding that it gets moved again and again to the same spot the spammers moved it first.
Any suggestion on how we could address this without trigger a re-verification process and/or suspension? (since, as usual, the one who has the most potential to suffer is actually the client)

Thanks in advance for any insights you can provide!!

 

[JoyHawkins]

I'm collecting examples of this - can you DM me the links to the listings so I can send them to Google?

 

[Hec93]

I'm collecting examples of this - can you DM me the links to the listings so I can send them to Google?

Thanks for your quick replay!!.
Unfortunately, I am bound by NDAs so I cannot really share that level of detail, even if is for this good cause. I could expand a little bit more on the overall issue and provide a bit more of context if you would like to know.

 

[JS Girard]

You can share the area where the pin gets moved. There's probably a lot of inexplicable movement there and Joy can pick out examples by herself.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Hi Joy! A client of ours who has been having this issue was brought to my attention yesterday.

Their pin keeps getting relocated to a place that is hours away from their address, and when the client tried to move the pin back via the ownership account, their listing was suspended - twice.

Yesterday I was able to move the pin to the correct location as a user, and no suspension happened - but their reviews disappeared.

The reviews are back, but the whole thing is super strange. There are also a ton of other businesses at this incorrect location.

Are you still gathering links to send to Google? If you are, Id be happy to send what I have

 

[JoyHawkins]

Yes! please DM me them.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Thanks Joy, will do! We have two other clients with this issue as well. I will DM the details to you once I have them all organized

 

[Nikki Stine]

I spoke to a massage therapist who found out her pin had been moved to a different state, but when she moved it back her profile was suspended.

She appealed the suspension, but Google denied her appeal saying that her profile had “ deceptive content that misleads others.”

Is there anything specific to keep in mind when appealing a case like this?

 

[Andrew Dale]

Wow, that is insane and genius all at the same time! Lol. I had a client who's pin was moved to a different state, just like Nikki. When we moved it back, it popped a suspension and it was really difficult to resolve.

Nikki, I had them collect all of their utility documents for the last few months and presented them to Google, showing that the business never moved. After 3 attempts we were finally able to get the business verified again and the suspension lifted. Kudos to the competitor that did that. You learn a lot from spammers.

 

[JoyHawkins]

If you want to send me the examples via DM, I'll add them to the thread. The more examples, the more Google will likely prioritize the fix.

 

[JoyHawkins]

@timcapper just gave a solid tip on this. If it happens to you, do not move the pin back in the dashboard. Do it with a different account using suggest an edit so that you don't trigger a suspension on the listing.

 

[Nikki Stine]

After 3 attempts we were finally able to get the business verified again and the suspension lifted. Kudos to the competitor that did that. You learn a lot from spammers.

@Andrew Dale, thanks for the mention that it took 3 times for you to get the suspension lifted! That gives us hope. Lol.

 

[JS Girard]

I found out why this works. We thought it was because of the pin being close together, but no: moving the pin actually does alter the address in some unseen fashion.

Look at this address: 1285 Rue Gay-Lussac · 1285 Rue Gay-Lussac, Boucherville, QC J4B 7K1, Canada

two of the businesses listed have had their pin moved and have completely unrelated addresses. Yet these are still listed in the directory! (Interestingly, though, it isn't working out for this spammer: all four businesses still rank)

I am quite sure this is also why moving the pin suddenly started to trigger revalidations.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Moving the pin doesn't update the address (they are separate things) but it would definitely trigger the filter. So in these cases, the addresses listed, I would assume, are their real addresses?

 

[JS Girard]

Moving the pin doesn't update the address (they are separate things) but it would definitely trigger the filter. So in these cases, the addresses listed, I would assume, are their real addresses?

I know it doesn't update the GBP profile, but what strikes me is that GBPs are listed within the "at this place" directory for a completely different address based strictly on pin location.

So in a roundabout, invisible way, the address has sort-of been altered (kinda like how it's impossible to see the English name of a GBP in Quebec even if you switch Google's language to English, or the way you cannot actually move a SAB's validation address).

 

[vinchenson]

I spoke to a massage therapist who found out her pin had been moved to a different state, but when she moved it back her profile was suspended.

She appealed the suspension, but Google denied her appeal saying that her profile had “ deceptive content that misleads others.”

Is there anything specific to keep in mind when appealing a case like this?

We are in the exact same situation. Did you end up fixing anything? at least we are not alone in this...

 

[vinchenson]

Moving the pin doesn't update the address (they are separate things) but it would definitely trigger the filter. So in these cases, the addresses listed, I would assume, are their real addresses?

Do you know if there is a way that when the competitor moves our pin we get notified? how could we control dozens of listings that get attacked with this method on a daily basis? thanks.