Spamming GBP Posts (Updates)

[UniqueTradesMarketer]

We’ve noticed a plumbing competitor posting 10–15 Google Business Profile updates daily and earning a higher ranking position on the latest Local Falcon report. Before this recent push, they hadn't posted in years.

They’re uploading job photos with short descriptions of completed work. For example, after installing a water heater, they’ll share an image of the unit with a brief job summary.

Is this a viable strategy for improving rankings, or could it backfire as spam? Should we consider increasing our own posting frequency to stay competitive?

 

[Jannell Howell]

Hi! I don't think adding posts to a Google Business Profile makes a direct impact to ranking. However, it does provide more opportunities for engagement and more context for Google to determine relevancy for a particular search.

 

[UniqueTradesMarketer]

Hi! I don't think adding posts to a Google Business Profile makes a direct impact to ranking. However, it does provide more opportunities for engagement and more context for Google to determine relevancy for a particular search.

Thanks, Jannell, for your insights! We too feel it creates additional context for search relevancy and our competitor is utilizing key terms in the updates for that reason. As a precaution, and to remain competitive, we're increasing our GBP update posts for the time being. I'll continue to monitor our GBP ranking in the weeks to come.

 

[JoyHawkins]

A lot of the companies that do this are also involved in buying reviews and CTR manipulation, both which impact rankings pretty quickly. I would check their reviews to see if there has been a spike, but it's pretty much impossible to know if they're doing CTR manipulation.

I would not credit Google posts/updates for the ranking increase.

 

[UniqueTradesMarketer]

A lot of the companies that do this are also involved in buying reviews and CTR manipulation, both which impact rankings pretty quickly. I would check their reviews to see if there has been a spike, but it's pretty much impossible to know if they're doing CTR manipulation.

I would not credit Google posts/updates for the ranking increase.

Thanks for your feedback, Joy!

It’s interesting you mention reviews. This specific competitor has suddenly “earned” 538 reviews in just the past four months, after years of stagnation. For comparison, it’s taken us nearly a year and a half to achieve that same volume through real efforts.

As a residential trade company, local pack rankings are crucial for our business. It’s disheartening to see questionable practices overshadow genuine efforts. Hopefully, Google continues to refine its algorithms to reward authentic strategies over manipulation.

Thanks again for sharing your insights!

 

[JoyHawkins]

his specific competitor has suddenly “earned” 538 reviews in just the past four months, after years of stagnation. For comparison, it’s taken us nearly a year and a half to achieve that same volume through real efforts.

If you think they are buying them, you can send a report to Google about it here.