| I welcome this. Google simply has too much control over this area. Case: I work for a small, family owned business. It does home remodeling. A large part of how the company generates leads is through the website and Google Business profile (or Google Maps listing). The business currently ranks well, but there is a growing threat from marketing firms. This is not a problem with competitors hiring marketing firms. It's marketing firms or solo marketing "gurus" who setup websites for each city in the metro area and a matching Google Business profile. These profiles are often setup through reaching out to local residents who'll accept Google's postcard verification for a new listing at their home address. In return for providing the marketer with the code, the resident gets a small fee. Once the website and listing start ranking, the marketer tries to get local contractors to buy the leads from them. This scheme is known as "rank and rent" in some circles (read: among shady marketers). These actors add no value. It's for this reason that Google explicitly forbids this activity in its Google Business profile listings. However, go about reporting such profiles, nothing happens. I welcome a break of the monopoly so that Google and others will start taking more action on shady marketing tactics. |