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Getting an address = potentially thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in profit. Being creative on how you attain addresses is one of the main criteria

Getting an address = potentially thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in profit. Being creative on how you attain addresses is one of the main criteria for this business model. One unique method is working exclusively with a local plumber, electrician, etc and HAVING THEM get you the addresses while you retain control of the GBP entity and sell them the leads. The pitch goes like "you've seen the success I've had getting other clients tons of leads right? Get me 3-4 addresses in the cities you want to target and I can get them ranked" The client then asks around, uses their own address, etc to find them for you.

troydavis 4y ago
Thank you. That makes sense for a lot of cases. I saw some business names that had 50+ locations in one city, but I guess given enough motivation, that can be done. Related: I submitted edits for some of the businesses (marking them "Doesn't exist") and Google rejected the edits. My Maps contribution history says "NOT APPLIED - Google couldn't verify your edit" for a long list of fake businesses. If that's how they process reports - about new businesses with obviously anomalous reviews - it's no wonder this continues.
- pifm_guy 4y ago
  The 'fixing up mistakes in the map' team is quite separate from the anti-spam team. Using volunteer reports for anti-spam doesn't work because the spammers play a numbers game, and perhaps only 10% will be reported by a good citizen like you.
  - troydavis 4y ago
    I guess I don't see them as mutually exclusive. I agree that relying on volunteer reports isn't sufficient, but from what we're looking at here, neither is relying on an anti-spam team/proactive detection. (Google Maps PMs, if you're reading this: feel free to contact me to hear my experience. There are some seemingly simple, low-false-positive ways to improve reporting of fake businesses and accounts.)

troydavis 4y ago

Thank you. That makes sense for a lot of cases. I saw some business names that had 50+ locations in one city, but I guess given enough motivation, that can be done. Related: I submitted edits for some of the businesses (marking them "Doesn't exist") and Google rejected the edits. My Maps contribution history says "NOT APPLIED - Google couldn't verify your edit" for a long list of fake businesses. If that's how they process reports - about new businesses with obviously anomalous reviews - it's no wonder this continues.

pifm_guy 4y ago
The 'fixing up mistakes in the map' team is quite separate from the anti-spam team. Using volunteer reports for anti-spam doesn't work because the spammers play a numbers game, and perhaps only 10% will be reported by a good citizen like you.
- troydavis 4y ago
  I guess I don't see them as mutually exclusive. I agree that relying on volunteer reports isn't sufficient, but from what we're looking at here, neither is relying on an anti-spam team/proactive detection. (Google Maps PMs, if you're reading this: feel free to contact me to hear my experience. There are some seemingly simple, low-false-positive ways to improve reporting of fake businesses and accounts.)