Google Map Pin Scam Threatens Business Profiles

Date:

June 21, 2024

Google Map Pins of multiple businesses have been moving around for years without their notice, causing suspensions of Google Business Profiles.

Google has become the primary source of driving consumer traffic to various businesses. One of the key features that businesses use to provide geographical inflow is the Google Map Pins. Google Business Profiles can set a pin of their business location to help customers reach out to them easily. However, spammers and hackers have been exploiting these pins to mislead customers, which results in a sharp ranking drop or even suspension of the profile. 

Darren Shaw, founder and president of Whitepark, posted shocking data on X revealing how many businesses have been affected by this glitch in the Google matrix. According to a Jon Hopkins report in March 2024, a ton of people have reported their business location being altered. As they tried to bring the Google Map Pin back to the original location, their ranking in the actual location went down almost immediately. Some businesses even reported getting their Google Business Profile suspended when they edited the Map Pin back to the previous spot.

Though the anomaly has existed in Google Maps for years, it was discovered by the larger masses last year. Spammers, hackers, and other dark-hat SEO practitioners may have been abusing this glitch to bring down the rankings of rival businesses and improve user inflow on their client profiles. Google has not rectified the glitch or made any public statement regarding the situation. 

More and more cases of suspended Google Maps businesses and downsized location rankings are coming up every day. Many businesses have posted screenshots of the concern, where the Google Map pin was moved nearly 2-hours drive away from the actual location. When they tried, the account got suspended. Google is not sending any notifications to businesses whose location gets changed by an external or general Google user.

The danger lies in the lack of tracking of such hackers, as anyone can edit the basic details of listed businesses on Google or request a change that usually automatically gets approved. Anyone can edit the location, but businesses cannot edit it to the original spot. Darren has provided a possible solution for businesses at a $1 per month service charge to share location update notifications and prevent such scams from happening to them. However, a permanent solution to this problem from the tech giant is still awaited by global Google users.