Google Places Spam Continues Unabated in Online Automotive
I’ve written before about this fairly significant problem for car dealers several times and not a peep from the automotive seo blogs. I seem to be the only one who notices. Just do a search for “google maps spam automotive“. That’s me in #1, followed by…absolutely not one other automotive SEO.
With the level of diarrhea of the automotive seo blogging that goes on, you would think there would be someone beating me to this story. You all seem to beat me to the punch on all the softball PC stuff and the pedestrian SEO crap, like duplicate title tags. (If I see another screenshot of site: or another blog about “social marketing for car dealers” I’m gonna puke.)
Am I really the only one who notices Usedcars.com Places locations (ADP/Cobalt) next to every dealership in America? Or likewise with Dealerconnexion (Auto Lead Exchange word has it, run by New Vista Marketing)?
Now is that because all the Automotive SEOs out there are asleep at the wheel? 
(Automotive SEOs) Your silence says something! Either way; asleep at the wheel or an online automotive industry sycophant, equates to NO RESPECT from the real SEO world. Because if you were actually performing any SEO, Internet Marketing or whatever you call what you do, you might just notice this Google Places-Maps Spam that is stealing* clicks from your dealer-client every day. Its not a trivial amount of money either. If say there are 200 searches for a “Toyota Dealer” a day and 30% of those use Google Maps, and say that 30% of those click on the spam listing, and then 5% of those convert, that’s 27 leads per month. If those leads are worth $20 each, that’s $540; money that I as a dealer consider stolen from me, the real Toyota Dealer in the area. Another way to look at the heist; the 3rd party lead spammer is getting about 540 clicks for free that they would otherwise have to pay about $2.00 PPC for, or $1080. See how crime pays*, while doing it legit won’t?
Google doesn’t really care
Google really isn’t that concerned about Places spammers. Their primary interest is attracting ad dollars, and their products are built accordingly. They have no enforcement mechanisms; their verification mechanisms are opaque, crude, and easily circumvented; there is no regulation of their own product by either consumers or the government, and since it’s given away for ‘free’, there’s no sense of responsibility to the business owners or customers that the listing be accurate or even legal—the prevailing assumption is buyer beware.
So its up to those of us that it does effect to do something about it. So do all you Automotive SEOs out there care about your clients? Here is what you can do, as told by Dan Austin;
Report a problem on the Google Places page for problematic listings that Map Maker can’t take care of. I contact Google with the occasional issue if something doesn’t get done to my satisfaction, or if they need to explore a certain avenue that spammers are treading on and that Google isn’t. Sometimes I shame them—both Google and the spammers—publicly on the Places and Map Maker forums, in an effort to draw attention to the spam problem. It’s really a combination of approaches, coupled with my relentlessness. You just have to be relentless.
Don’t spam in response to the spammers. This is the biggest problem I can see. It just escalates the problem out of control, because spammers respond with more spam, not less. I would report it, and if the Report a problem doesn’t work, raise a stink in the forums. Call your representative, regulatory authorities, the media, and anyone you know at Google.
*Yes! Its stealing by impersonating another business for financial gain. Dealerconnexion is not a Toyota Dealer. And its clearly identified as prohibited by Google TOS.
{ 0 comments }
