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Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by randombytes6869 on Saturday June 20, 2020 @04:39AM (#23582656)
You can probably just check the referrer header and display a giant nag message to people coming from that business listing.

"This website is not associated with company X which have been misrepresenting themselves by linking to my site from their maps listing."

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by federicoponzi on Saturday June 20, 2020 @04:46AM (#23582683)
Thanks for the suggestion but:

1. I would need to do that for every referral from google, something which I would avoid.

2. Users might not click on the link and still think we're related.

Also, the very same listing is showing facebook and twitter links on which I cannot do much about.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by nullc on Saturday June 20, 2020 @05:32AM (#23582855)
You could also treat probes from google's address space differently, perhaps if you return 404s they'll automatically delist it.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by rhizome on Saturday June 20, 2020 @05:56AM (#23582961)
It's bad luck to return something different to GoogleBot than what regular people see.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by lovemenot on Saturday June 20, 2020 @07:45AM (#23583386)
Fascinating use of language. Superstition implies belief in fate / deity.

It doesn't surprise to see this written now, even if only ironically. "The algorithm cannot be understood by anyone" - which is a fact. So we summon the fates to describe its expected behaviour.

If this comment seems personal, that wasn't intended. I really don't know how people in SEO tend to communicate. But I just heard this kind of language for the first time. So it's just a sign of the times.

More like this to come. Surely.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by Kye on Saturday June 20, 2020 @08:09AM (#23583488)
Showing different content to Google and visitors is genuinely against Google's webmaster guidelines. It will get you delisted. It's known as cloaking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloaking

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66355?hl=en

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by lovemenot on Saturday June 20, 2020 @08:32AM (#23583590)
>> It's bad luck to return something different to GoogleBot than what regular people see.

It's [against policy] to return something different to GoogleBot than what regular people see.

The facts are on your side, but GP's language choice remains interesting. Not right now perhaps, but down the road?

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by Kye on Saturday June 20, 2020 @08:46AM (#23583647)
I can't tell if this is a bit where you play the oblivious pedant, or if you can't tell they were referring to this policy. Either way, I don't think they were suggesting some cosmic influence.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by lovemenot on Saturday June 20, 2020 @08:59AM (#23583690)
@Kye No pedantry from here. I had already understood the policy. So this comment wasn't about the policy, it was all about the language. You seem to wish to understand, so ...

It was a pretty wide tangent from the start. I imagine (perhaps incorrectly) that it may eventually become common for people to understand algorithm-lore as say the Runes were once understood. I interpreted the language used here as a harbinger.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by wolco on Saturday June 20, 2020 @11:44AM (#23584540)
Google also sends google-bot without the header. If it notices different content it will take the public version as truth.

So many people are doing this but not getting delisted. Not sure how solid a rule it still is.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by honzzz on Saturday June 20, 2020 @09:25AM (#23583799)
I am vouching for this comment. The choice of words seems interesting to me too. You don't have to agree with it but I do not see any sign of commenting in bad faith - I think this comment should be unflagged.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by wpietri on Saturday June 20, 2020 @09:37AM (#23583858)
I think the mistake was "Superstition implies belief in fate / deity." After reading the whole thing, I guess what they probably meant was dry linguisting commentary, but on first glance it looks like they're saying the person they're replying to is irrational.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by lovemenot on Saturday June 20, 2020 @09:39AM (#23583875)
Noted.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by Kye on Saturday June 20, 2020 @10:30AM (#23584142)
This is a mistake I used to make. It's fun to pull apart language, but to the person whose language is being analysed, it often feels like mockery. It's important to make it 100% crystal clear your fun analysis isn't about the person. Make it clear it's an aside by focusing on the point before moving on to the postscript with a clear topic shift.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by lovemenot on Saturday June 20, 2020 @10:53AM (#23584268)
>> It's important to make it 100% crystal clear your fun analysis isn't about the person.

>> If this comment seems personal, that wasn't intended.

That wasn't an edit, it was in my first commit. 100% Crystal clear?

I appreciate you're trying to help but, in doing so please don't belittle my comment as "fun analysis". Though it mightn't have come over perfectly, I meant it. And it's important. To me at least.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by rhizome on Monday June 22, 2020 @05:14PM (#23606769)
You're being too literal about it. I was referring to the policy.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by rhizome on Monday June 22, 2020 @05:12PM (#23606737)
It ain't superstition, it's humor. It's how I sometimes say "you don't want to do that."
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by edoceo on Saturday June 20, 2020 @05:39AM (#23582885)
If you try to trick Google Bot different, they find it a punish your site.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by raverbashing on Saturday June 20, 2020 @06:16AM (#23583029)
Not really, redirection from Maps might show a different referral than from Search (you have to test that but it should be pretty trivial to do)

Trademarks are a bit more complicated as the issue of brand confusion and geographical areas are involved.

But you could always try to contact a lawyer in the area of that company and ask them to write a strong worded letter directly to the business.

Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by bhartzer on Saturday June 20, 2020 @09:49AM (#23583925)
You said that it is showing twitter and fb links. Are you sure this is google maps listing and not a knowledge graph entry? Those are two different things.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by federicoponzi on Saturday June 20, 2020 @10:21AM (#23584097)
Yep, it's google maps listing. I think that twitter and fb links are scraped by Google though, but the listing is definitely a google maps entry. The owner of the thing is even answering the reviews.
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by bhartzer on Monday June 22, 2020 @04:00PM (#23605625)
OK, so your best bet is to use the Redressal form, Google has it here: https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_redress...
Re:Ask HN: Google won't remove my site URL from random busin... by spyder on Saturday June 20, 2020 @10:58AM (#23584302)
I just checked and the referrer from the 'Website' button on business listings only sends the google.com top domain with no tracking parameters.