That does seem like a you problem.

The power Google has over small, local businesses is ridiculous.

I work for a small local business. We've been struggling to get rid of the "lead generation" spam from the Google Maps listings. This is costing us on the order of thousands to tens-of-thousands a month in work. (That's significant for our business, on the ~10-15% of monthly revenue.)

I dug into these listings. I discovered the company behind them, a marketing firm in Hawaii. I uncovered a network of 80+ listings across the US they operate. I even discovered their recruiting websites where they pay people to create the listings for them and go on to pay people for 5-star reviews.

I provided all of this information to Google via their "business redressal form." Nothing. It's been months. I keep reporting the listings. Nothing.

We're losing work. Other local contractors are losing work. And Google twiddles its thumbs.

What good is it for Google to have a policy if they're not going to uphold it when their inaction is harming others?

Do you have links handy to other articles about this issue? I've never heard of it and I'm curious.

The most famous case is locksmiths.[0] Google recently went after another company using the "rank and rent" scheme.[1]

The company which is causing us issues is also using the "rank and rent" scheme. They're running listings for everything from pool resurfacing to concrete driveways to tree services.

The company recruits people via Craigslist with an offer to pay them $50-100 to setup a Google Business Profile and receive the post card with a code for verification. They also offer $20 for a 5-star review.[2]

I am thinking about going to the FTC and the media at this point. I've also discovered that there's a small community but poorly connected that goes after this type of spam.

0. https://searchengineland.com/googles-locksmith-spam-problem-...

1. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-lawsuit-rank-and-...

2. https://archive.ph/SWNEU

I'm surprised at that level of loss you haven't just end-run around Google and the lead-gen firm and gotten together with your peers to blackball them. Those lead-gen companies can't actually deliver real service, they still need someone local to your community to pick up the lead and do the work.

I doubt it would take very long before they realized they can't fill any contracts and give up. And plus wouldn't it sound super cool to say you started a guild?

>I provided all of this information to Google via their "business redressal form." Nothing. It's been months. I keep reporting the listings. Nothing.

You don't go to Google if you want a Google problem fixed. You go to social media and yell about it.

I am a bit out of the loop. I did not understand

> We've been struggling to get rid of the "lead generation" spam from the Google Maps listings

Not OP but I may have experienced what they are describing. I saw a contractor on Google maps and made an inquiry for some work. They basically just forwarded my request to other, actual contractors, likely with the intention of taking a cut for providing a "successful lead". I basically ignored all of that nonsense and went to find actual local contractors myself. I think I just reported it for being misleading and I don't know what happened after, I don't think I've seen it again, but I could see how that poisons the well for a lot of people's livelihood.

But saying "Google has the power to shut down my business if I express the wrong opinions on social media sites like HN" is something they're totally fine with?

"Oops, I thought it was my throwaway account."

No, Google has the power to shut down your business for literally no reason!

How we square this circle without removing the 1st amendment right of free association isn't clear though. Maybe a cutoff of "if you have more than 50 employees" or something.