Interesting, Sneak Way of Trying to Game Multi Location Google My Business Listings

[JasonKhoo]

Just wanted to share something that I stumbled upon.

I figured out we had a competitor who has 5 locations and they named their site "pediatric dentistry & orthodontics". Then for their Google local listings they added the city name of each location to the front for each Google listing.

So for example, all their local pages look like

[city 1] pediatric dentistry & orthodontics
[city 2] pediatric dentistry & orthodontics

Their website however is titled and branded with no city name, just the title pediatric dentistry & orthodontics.

I was particularly annoyed by this because they were trying to rank in one of my clients cities and I thought of this as a particularly annoying way to game the "keyword in listing title issue".

Well I reported it and I got the listing to be edited so that the city name was removed from the listing. Now they only did it for the city I was concerned about. They didn't do it for the other 5 locations.


I sent another request asking them what to do about the other 5, waiting to hear back.

Here's the actual Google My Business thread I posted:
Solved: Business Listing with Fake Name and Fake Address in Our City - The Google Advertiser Community - 1806133

But I thought it was an interesting case that I wanted to share with everyone.

 

[Phil Rozek]

Pretty tried-n'-true spam tactic on their part.

I just submitted edits on their 5 locations, which Google approved instantly. No doubt the owner will add back the city names to the GMB names, in which case feel free to ping me.

 

[JasonKhoo]

I was new to this type of strategy but I'm really glad that Google blocks this type of stuff. Thanks Phil for editing those, I will continue to monitor and let you know if I see them doing it again (which I'm sure they will).

 

[JoyHawkins]

If they do add them back, your next step should be to get GMB involved. It's the only way to actually stop it. Here are some example cases we followed and what Google did about it.

 

[JasonKhoo]

Hi Joy,

Thanks, yeah as of today I've already seen them add their name back. I will continue to report them.

I've been reporting them to the advertiser community (Report spammy businesses in your area or ask about policy), when you say get GMB involved, is there somewhere else I can do so?

 

[JoyHawkins]

Jason,

Yep - that's the best place to do it. If you don't get a response on your thread, let me know and I can escalate it for you.

 

[JasonKhoo]

Thanks Joy! Will do!