Does Google call your satellite offices and ask what's down the street?
-
Is this a real thing? Do they actually do this? Should I be concerned and train my receptionists to know their surroundings?
-
Never experienced and heard this before. In first sounds like a scam, then I have gone through many online communities to ask this. I found that yeah Google does calling for verification of your local addresses.
-
As a marketing agency, everyday we are bombarded by "Google listing verification checks", which are a telemarketers way for lead generation. They don't even realize they are calling an online marketing agency until they ask more questions. I wouldn't call it a SCAM, just poor solicitation.
-
We are a marketing agency in a fairly "corporate park" type area and have not ever had this happen to us. From some of the above responses I guess it is legitimate though? We are in the U.S. and will keep an ear out for this if it ever happens to us.
-
whow, in spain there are a lot of problems with all a new commerces in the same place
-
-
Hey Slumberjac!
Whew ... that was an alarming experience you helped the client through. Well done! Thanks for sharing your story.
-
Hi Donald!
Thanks for sharing these anecdotes with us all. Good ones!
-
Yes,
Google have been trying to stop people gaming their "local search" feature.
People are listing their business as "somewhere customers can visit" with opening hours etc, when in fact it is a home address or they are not at that address at all.
I had a client that didn't give Google the information they wanted when they called and they deleted their Google + listing that had 100+ genuine reviews! I had to ring Google and we had to take pictures of outside and inside the office to prove they were at that address.
It is now listed again! PHEW
Google are being quite aggressive with their approach so I would make sure your listing is accurate and staff are ready to answer any questions about your location and business hours.
-
Miriam,
I had trouble getting a client verified. I got google on the phone, they did ask me specific questions about what was across and down the street. After answering, they verified my clients business right on the phone. I asked if they were using google street view to verify my answers, the google representative said he could not answer that question. The final verification was they called my client to make sure the number was legit.
With that said, I never had them call me directly for verification purposes. Any call I get claiming to be google representatives has always been spam.
Thanks,
Don
-
That's a good guess, EGOL. Google definitely does call, and there have been instances in the past where failure to answer the phone with the exact name on the listing have resulted in being "caught" for spam, and many other scenarios I've seen. I like your intuition here about why Google might be asking what is down the street. I think they should also add, "And how's the weather outside your building today, hmm?"
-
Sounds rather aggressive.
Yes. It is also aggressive to fake a location. Might be criminal in some situations.
Perhaps Google does this in response to competitor reports, and, in which they can't confirm the presence of an office through public information.
-
it was 2015 and they were questioning the DC office only
-
Hey Marketing CH and Kevin,
Interesting! First I have heard of Google asking what is across the street/down the block from a business. Sounds rather aggressive. Might be worth posting in the Google My Business forum to see if you can get verification from Google that they are, indeed, asking for this specific type of info.
-
Hi Kevin, thanks for your response! How long ago did this happen? Did they ask for info about all of your physical locations? Or just your main office? Thanks in advance!
-
Yes, Google has called our main line asking for information across the street, down the block, etc. We had to prove we occupied our address, which is our sales office in DC. We currently have 6 addresses, with 4 physical locations,1 sales office and another obtained in the acquisition of another business.
-
What? This is the first time ever I've heard this, sounds like a total scam to me.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Unlinking Google Local Listing from your GMB Account with other locations you have
I have listings that I need disconnected from my main Google My Business account. I can close, or remove which is similar as closing, but the goal is not to close the listings, just to remove the association to my google account, and im not transferring the listing as well. Anyone know how to accomplish this? Goal is to clean up old listings that are exist but I dont manage Thanks for all the help
Local Listings | | vmialik0 -
Google My Business: Company listing is showing in search instead of division address - similar names/same city
Hi! I have a client whose company name is very similar to one if their company divisions. This division has multiple locations but its main location is in the same city as the parent company. The problem is that when you search for the division, the parent company shows up. The parent company has a physical address, but most users searching need to be going to the division address which takes customers. They are having problems with customers coming to the parent company address instead. I have made the Google My Business parent company page to show service areas instead of their business address. Yet, their listing still comes up first when searching for the division location. This is because of part of the parent company name is in the division name. My client wants users to be able to find the division more so than the parent company. Anyone had this issue before? Any tips would be great!
Local Listings | | agrier0 -
Multiple google places listing
can i submit few map listings in different address from my same user and on the same IP etc
Local Listings | | SEOLocal920 -
Google My Business marker/pin - Do I have control over moving it?
I am working with a country club. We opened the Google my business account and Moz Local. i think the developer/builder of the Country Club planned on the address being in different place than it is today. Do I have control over moving that marker on this massive property. Or, is this done at the city/county level? The marker isn't quite near the building or the true entrance to the country club.
Local Listings | | Joseph.Lusso0 -
Google My Business page no longer appearing with search results
Title pretty much says it all--my company's local Google+ page has always appeared under our listed website information up until very recently. I'm also noticing the same with our competitors. Has anyone else just began to experience this? Our NAP, map, photos, and review are still displayed to the right of the results, but nothing is linked to the actual Google page itself. Am I missing something? Thanks!
Local Listings | | LMcLaughlin0 -
2 listings on Google Local....Need Help!
Hi All, One of our client have 2 business listings on Google Local for same business (same NAP but different website). Actually, their first website was under Google Penalty. They tried to remove the penalty but could not get rid of it so they bought a new domain and started working on it and listed the same business with new website URL. Now, their business is having 2 listings but with different URLs. How can we merge these two? Please advice. Thanks in Advance.
Local Listings | | sachin-sv0 -
Google Business Categories: Criminal Justice Attorney
Google has updated their business listings dashboard and are cleaning up categories. Let's come to a consensus on what should be obvious: Who else agrees with me that a lawyer who practices criminal defense law should be categorized as a Criminal Justice Attorney using Google's new business categorization? BoulderCriminalDefenseAttorney.jpg
Local Listings | | Rich_Coffman0 -
Help with Google Places, local listings & Google+ please!
Hi all, I work for enterprise app development & mobile consultancy, Mubaloo. I recently asked a question around getting better rankings for London-based search results. One answer was to set up a local listing for Mubaloo's London office. I thought I had done by setting up our London office up on Places for Business - is this the same as a local listing? In addition to this, I can't connect our existing Google+ page to our local Mubaloo Bristol & London listings as Google has created separate pages for each! Is anyone else having this issue? Can it be resolved?
Local Listings | | donaldsze0