{"id":1787450,"date":"2019-06-20T19:51:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T23:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1787450"},"modified":"2019-06-20T19:51:41","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T23:51:41","slug":"millions-of-business-listings-on-google-maps-are-fake-wsj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/06\/millions-of-business-listings-on-google-maps-are-fake-wsj\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions of Business Listings on Google Maps Are Fake: WSJ"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wall Street Journal<\/em> goes in-depth<\/a> on a problem Google Maps has had for years: fake and deceptive business listings posted by scam artists that crowd out legitimate local businesses\u2014as many as 11 million such listings at any given moment, according to experts.<\/p>\n

Online advertising specialists identified by Google as deft fraud fighters estimated that Google Maps carries roughly 11 million falsely listed businesses on any given day, according to a Journal survey of these experts.<\/p>\n

They say a majority of the listings for contractors, electricians, towing and car repair services, movers and lawyers, among other business categories, aren\u2019t located at their pushpins on Google Maps. Shams among these service categories, called \u201cduress verticals\u201d inside Google, can snag people at their most vulnerable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those experts and Google disagree as to the extent of the problem. (Which is exacerbated by how easy it is to set up a business listing.) And the scam artists aren’t simply displacing local businesses: they’re resorting to outright extortion: pay up, or we’ll swamp you with bogus listings. [Engadget<\/em><\/a>, The Verge<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wall Street Journal goes in-depth on a problem Google Maps has had for years: fake and deceptive business listings posted by scam artists that crowd out legitimate local businesses\u2014as many as 11 million such… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,80],"tags":[197,822,82,1323,196],"class_list":["post-1787450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-map-errors","category-mobile","tag-business-listings","tag-fraud","tag-google-maps","tag-search-engines","tag-wsj","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1813701,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/04\/how-google-deals-with-fake-content-on-google-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":0},"title":"How Google Deals with Fake Content on Google Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 April 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"In a blog post last Friday, Google offers some detail on how it combats fraudulent user-submitted content on Google Maps. These include fake business profiles, fake reviews, contributed photos with fake phone numbers\u2014it\u2019s basically about business listings. (There was a time, of course, when fake user-submitted content was to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4280,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/04\/how-many-fake-business-listings-are-there-on-google-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":1},"title":"How Many Fake Business Listings Are There on Google Maps?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 April 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Bogus business listings on Google Maps have been a thing for a while; a new research paper, authored by researchers at Google and the University of San Diego,\u00a0tries to quantify the scale and scope of the problem. The\u00a0New Scientist reports: To analyse the scope of this abuse, the group looked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime"","block_context":{"text":"Crime","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/crime\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1818108,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/08\/can-places-on-google-maps-be-trusted\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":2},"title":"Can Places on Google Maps Be Trusted?","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 August 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"Google has been plagued with fraudulent and scammy business listings on Google Maps for years (1, 2). Last April, Google posted about the steps it takes to combat fake content. James Killick points to more recent incidents and wonders whether places on Google Maps can still be trusted; given that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1790207,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/02\/google-and-apple-updates\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":3},"title":"Google and Apple Updates","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"23 February 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Google explains how they identify and take action against fraudulent content\u2014fake reviews, fake listings, content vandalism\u2014on Google Maps. Meanwhile, the ability to pay for parking and transit fares is being integrated into the Google Maps app (Engadget, The Verge). On the Apple Maps front, cycling directions have come to Portland,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":528,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/01\/when-map-errors-hurt-small-businesses\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":4},"title":"When Map Errors Hurt Small Businesses","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 January 2016","format":"link","excerpt":"We've all seen business listings on online maps that don't quite jibe with reality: the map marker's on the wrong place, and driving directions don't get you to your destination.\u00a0The Wall Street Journal reports on how businesses deal with online map errors. Getting a wrong listing fixed is\u00a0a rather high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1790617,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/04\/apple-and-google-updates-ai-improvements-airport-health-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787450,"position":5},"title":"Apple and Google Updates: AI Improvements, Airport Health Measures","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"9 April 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Last week Google announced \u201cover 100 AI-powered improvements to Google Maps\u201d would be coming this year; these include bringing Live View indoors, a new air quality map layer, eco-friendly routing, and support for curbside pickup in business listings. Meanwhile, Apple Maps is now displaying airport COVID-19-related health measures based on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787450"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787452,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787450\/revisions\/1787452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}