Google Has Launched A New Way To Report Local Business / Map Spam

Google My Business (GMB) violations happen on a regular basis. Now, Google has created a new way—a new online form—to allow people to report on local business and map spam. This was just announced yesterday on Google’s My Business Advertiser Community Forum.

The New Spam and Fraud Form

Marissa_GMB, the Community Manager for the form, shared the following: “If you come across a business name, phone number, or URL on Google Maps that leads to fraudulent activity, you can now submit a complaint using this form.”

The form is easy to fill out and makes reporting fake listings easy as well. Users must include their full name, email address, and the name of the organization being impacted. Then, the user will fill out the information for “malicious content”. See below for a snapshot of what the form looks like.

Does a competitor of yours spam keywords in their GMB titles? If so, this is an unethical way to get ahead in search results. As a matter of fact, they may rank higher than you for this reason. You don’t have to let this happen! If you suspect a competitor is doing this, make sure to report their spam through the form.

Featured photo by PhotoMIX LTD on Pexels

Google spam form is a screenshot by Gain Local