To gain additional traffic, Google has seen an increase in businesses who are ineligible for Google My Business listings adding fraudulent and misleading information to promote their business on Google Maps.
To combat this problem, Google has created a Business Redressal Complaint Form for community members to submit claims that will be manually reviewed by Google.
While there has been an increase in businesses using black hat tactics on Google My Business, such as keyword stuffing, this initiative by Google is specifically for businesses who are violating guidelines related to the title, URL, address, or phone number, as explained by Google:
“If you come across misleading information or fraudulent activity on Google Maps related to the name, phone number, or URL of a business, you may use this form to submit a complaint. Complaints submitted through this form will be reviewed in accordance with our guidelines for representing businesses on Google Maps.”
The complaint form is straight forward. To submit a form, Google requires your full name, contact email address, and the name of the entity or organization that is impacted.
The body of the form is where you add all relevant information regarding why the listing is violating Google’s guidelines related to the title, URL, address or phone number.
Lastly, since these form submissions are manually reviewed
by Google, the final question is an open-ended question field where Google
requires you to explain in detail your justification as to why the listing you
are submitting is fraudulent or misleading.