A really common question I get is how do we quickly improve our rankings within the Google My Business or Google Maps section of the Google search results page. Clients see their competitors sneaking in keywords and gaming the Google results by changing their business names to keywords they want to rank high for. We see auto repair facilities changing their business name to “Oil Change In Littleton” in order to beat the other auto repair facilities in the area that are playing by the rules. When these tactics are exposed to Google they are sometimes removed but that generally doesn’t last very long as the companies who employ these tactics for their marketing customers just simply create a new listing with the same keyword stuffing issues. It can be really deflating for businesses who play by the rules.
Now that this is becoming more commonplace Search Engine Land has written an interesting look at the damage being done to individual brands as they chase placement. As more businesses move towards these tactics, the reduction in benefit is significant. Read more about GMB spam on the Search Engine Land blog.