Third Party Scammers & Agencies on Google My Business
How to identify a Google My Business third party scammer:
There is a number of different ways to identify if someone is trying to ‘scam’ you in regards to your Google My Business Listing. Below are some of the common things a ‘scammer’ may say to you on the phone or over email.
One of the most common of these is when the ‘scam’ company will call you or your business claiming that they are in fact from Google or give the impression they are offering to improve your ranking on Google by paying a fee. Unless you have called Google directly and they have promised you a call back then Google should never call you in regards to your Google My Business Listing. If a third party company contacts you in regards to your Google My Business Listing they should never identify themselves as Google and should always identify as the company they are calling from, as we do by confirming that we are calling from Search Point UK
Another would be if a company contacts you claiming they are Google and requesting for a ‘Pin’ or ‘Code’. Google would never call you to collect either of these. If a third party company such as ourselves was to call you to collect this code we would inform you who we are and also inform you that the code is to make the listing go live on Google and that we are setting the Google My Business Listing up on your behalf, which will have been discussed in previous calls.
If a third party was to set the listing up on your behalf and then hold the listing demanding you to pay a fee for the listing to be released. If the owner of the business requests the listing to be released or they wish to take back the ownership of the listing then the third party would have to then release the listing or grant the ownership of the listing over to the owner of the business. This is highlighted in the Google My Business strict guidelines that Google have.
A third party can never guarantee the top placement on specific search terms. For instance the third party company should never say that you will appear at the top or on the first page for the search terms of your choice.
The third party should not engage in deceptive or harassing marketing and sales practices.
If the third party is representing your business information incorrectly on Google My Business and they are unwilling to change the information to be appearing correctly on Google.
What are Google’s Guidelines Regarding Third Parties ?
If you are a third party company you must be authorised by a decision maker at the business to be able to represent the company:
As an authorised representative you must follow and stick to these strict guidelines provided by Google:
If you are a third party company you must be authorised by a decision maker at the business to be able to represent the company:
As an authorised representative you must follow and stick to these strict guidelines provided by Google:
You must never go ahead and claim a Google My Business Listing without the consent of the business owner or decision maker at the business. For instance if someone states they are a receptionist and cannot make decisions on behalf of the business you are not to go ahead and claim the business listing.
You must never make false, unrealistic or misleading claims. Some examples of this are if you promise someone that they will appear at the top of the listings under certain search criteria’s, that they will be the only business appearing when you search a specific term.
You should never use tactics which are harassing, abusive or untrustworthy in any way, this is with both new and existing customers.
You should always make sure the business owner or decision maker understands and knows what Google My Business is and where the data for their business will be used.
All actions on the Google My Business Listing that are taken should first be authorised by the business owner or decision maker, or they should contact you in regards to making the changes, amendments or any actions to the Google My Business Listing.
You should always stick to and follow the Google My Business Guidelines for the listing you are managing on Google.
If you come across a management request you should always respond to this as promptly as possible, if the owner or decision maker of the business has requested access you must always grant them access to the listing. If you are a third party managing a listing on behalf of a company you should always encourage the business owner or decision maker to create a Gmail account or a Google compatible email address in order for you to send the access across to them.
Steps you can take to protect yourself from third party scammers
Any unwanted callers or any calls from someone you suspect is attempting to ‘scam’ you can report these to Google which is in further depth below of how you can do so. Alternatively you can report the number or company to FTC or FCC and also Ofcom (UK).
If you have any unwanted calls which are a robocall then hang up the phone. Never press any keys on your keypad or any numbers. Simply just hang the call up.
Ask the caller where they are calling from and verify with them if they are actually trying to reach out to you from Google or if they are Third Party Company. In some instances fraudulent companies may use terms such as “calling on behalf of Google” or “a Google specialist”. If you are unsure whether this is a third party scammer and are not sure if it is Google calling you can always ask them to send you an email, Google emails will always end with @google.com
You can claim your business listing for free using either Google My Business on a laptop or desktop or via the Google My Business free app. Once you Google My Business listing is claimed and been managed you are much less likely to be targeted by potential third party scammers.
Do your research. Look in to what is and what isn’t possible to do with a Google My Business listing and search engine marketing. There is no way to pay for better local rankings and any company that claims they can get you to the top will be running a scam. Be aware of people promising you things such as this on the phone.
How do you report a third party scammer to Google ?
If you believe or are under the impression that a third party is violating any of the Google My Business third party policies then you can use the form below to report them to Google.
https://support.google.com/business/contact/gmb_3p_complaints
A third party company such as ourselves (Search Point UK) is a agency that manages the Google My Business Listing on behalf of the business with consent of the business owner or decision maker to do so. All of Google’s third party policies must be followed and applies to any individual or organisation who is managing a Google My Business Listing on a third party basis.
If you are still having any issues with a third party company or agency that you believe to be scammers then you can also report them on Facebook and Twitter on the accounts below.
Facebook - @GoogleMyBusiness
Twitter - @GoogleMyBiz