A new scam targeting Google Business Profiles can drastically impact local rankings by moving business map pins to incorrect locations, causing significant visibility issues and suspensions. To combat this, businesses should stay informed, monitor their profiles regularly, and use safe correction methods to revert unauthorized changes.

Google Business Profile Pin Scam: A Growing Threat to Local Businesses

Google Business Profiles are crucial for home service providers, B2B companies, and law firms aiming to enhance local visibility. These profiles appear in Google Search and Maps, providing potential customers with essential information such as business hours, contact details, and reviews. One of the most critical features is the map pin, which marks the business’s physical location. This pin significantly influences local search rankings because Google’s algorithm prioritizes proximity when displaying search results. Accurate pin placement ensures your business appears in relevant local searches, driving traffic and generating leads.

However, a disturbing new scam targeting these profiles has emerged, causing significant harm to businesses’ online presence and local rankings. Competitors exploit a loophole by dragging your Google Business Profile map pin to a different location, sometimes as far as 100 miles away. This seemingly minor change can drastically impact your business. Since local search rankings are closely tied to the map pin location, moving it can make your business vanish from search results in your actual area, transferring your ranking to the incorrect location.

An Immediate Impact

The effects of this scam are immediate and severe. Businesses rely heavily on Google to drive both digital and physical traffic. Misplaced pins confuse customers and damage online visibility. Darren Shaw, founder of Whitespark, highlighted alarming data showing widespread impacts. Many businesses reported unauthorized pin movements and experienced significant drops in their local rankings. Some even faced suspensions when attempting to correct their map pin location.

How Users Exploit the System

Google’s current system allows the general public to edit business locations without proper verification, creating a vulnerability that malicious actors exploit. Here’s how they do it:

1. Suggest an Edit: Anyone can click the “Suggest an edit” button on your Google Business Profile.
2. Edit Map Location: They then select “Change name or other details” and “Edit map location.”
3. Move the Pin: The map pin can be dragged to a different location, misleading customers and negatively impacting your local search rankings.

This lack of verification creates an open door for competitors and malicious users to harm your business. When business owners try to revert these changes, they often face account suspensions. Google has stringent policies regarding frequent edits and changes to a business profile, interpreting them as potential suspicious activity. Consequently, even legitimate attempts to correct map pin placements can trigger automatic suspensions, which Google implements to prevent spam and fraudulent behavior. The automated review process has further compounded the problem, making it harder for legitimate businesses to maintain their online presence.

Protecting Your Business

Given the gravity of this scam, it’s essential to take proactive measures:

1. Stay Informed: Be aware of the scam and its potential impact on your business.
2. Monitor Regularly: Check your Google Business Profile to ensure your map pin remains correctly placed. Since Google does not notify you of changes, proactive monitoring is crucial.
3. Use Safe Correction Methods: If your map pin has been moved, avoid using Google’s interface to revert it directly, as this may trigger a suspension. Instead, consult experts to restore your pin to the proper location safely. You can also suggest an edit as a user (not signed in to the profile) to attempt to move the pin back to the correct location.

To mitigate this issue, our team uses software to monitor any changes or suggested edits made to our clients’ Google Business Profiles. We also frequently check the profiles and monitor their performance and results. Doing this lets us quickly catch any changes or problems and fix them proactively. However, it is critical to note that Google won’t notify you or ask for approval before making automatic or publicly suggested changes. These changes can affect your services, hours, contact information, and location. While Google’s API does not currently allow automated corrections, following precise instructions from reliable tools can help you address unauthorized changes without risking suspension.

Key Takeaways

Business owners should be vigilant and proactively protect their Google Business Profile. Stay updated, monitor your profile, and utilize reputable tools to protect your business and maintain your local search rankings. We’re hopeful that Google will implement more robust measures to prevent these harmful activities and protect businesses soon. For now, don’t hesitate to contact us for help managing or monitoring your profile.