Question About Keyword Stuffing in Business Title

[Matt Chauhan]

I have noticed many franchise businesses using the names of cities in their GBP Business names. For example Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Santa Cruz

Is this considered keyword spamming in business titles or does it fall under GBP guidelines?

 

[JS Girard]

I'm going to answer for the case of brand/chains specifically.

My personal belief is that, especially when it comes to SAB where you don't want to call several counties over because you can't tell them apart, it should be allowable.

In practice, the google guidelines directly contradicts itself. Under "location information", the main guideline says to avoid e.g. "Holiday Inn (I-93 at Exit 2)" and use instead "Holiday Inn Salem". Perfectly sensible, right? But under "chains and brands" it gives the EXACT OPPOSITE EXAMPLE, namely that "The Home Depot at Springfield" is not to be used, and it should be just "The Home Depot"!

Talk about left hand not talking to the right hand...

Other forms of keyword stuffing are what you use DBAs for lol.

 

[johnlavapie_SEO]

I guess the proper question is - can you report them as spam? And my answer is yes, and you should. Keywords in the GBP name is a ranking factor. As long as you can prove they are not using the modifier "Santa Cruz" in their real world operation. Like stationaries, websites, and location.