{"id":5380,"date":"2022-08-02T14:56:02","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T14:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/"},"modified":"2022-08-02T14:56:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T14:56:02","slug":"googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s Local Services Ads platform has a problem with spam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I primarily run Local Services Ads for personal injury law firms, and most of the problems I\u2019m encountering are in California. While I can\u2019t speak for every vertical or geographic region, if the problems are affecting attorneys in California, there is (or will soon be) a spam problem coming to a town near you.<\/p>\n<p>Below we\u2019ll look at some of the spam issues LSA has &amp; explore how Google might remedy them.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#How_much_spam_is_there\" >How much spam is there?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Spammy_locations_Are_virtual_offices_%E2%80%9Cspam%E2%80%9D_or_%E2%80%9Cinaccurate%E2%80%9D\" >Spammy locations: Are virtual offices \u201cspam\u201d or \u201cinaccurate\u201d?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Fake_LSA_reviews\" >Fake LSA reviews:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Fake_business_names\" >Fake business names<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Overlapping_ads_firms_ranking_multiple_times\" >Overlapping ads &amp; firms ranking multiple times<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Possible_solutions_Google_could_implement\" >Possible solutions Google could implement:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/02\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam\/#Recap\" >Recap<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_much_spam_is_there\"><\/span>How much spam is there?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The spam began in September 2020, then a huge wave of spam hit California back in March 2022. We now have a tsunami.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing this article, I took a look at the \u201cGoogle Screened\u201d personal injury lawyer results in Fresno, California. I did a search for <em>Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer<\/em>, and upon seeing the first 3 \u201cGoogle Screened\u201d LSA ads, I clicked \u201cMore Personal Injury Lawyers\u201d. This presented a list of 100 \u201cGoogle Screened\u201d lawyers. I carefully looked through the 100 listings. Of the top 100 \u201cGoogle Screened\u201d listings, 95% were spam or inaccurate (the results vary from day to day).<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the complete breakdown:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 LSA ad was valid and from a local Fresno law firm<\/li>\n<li>4 LSA ads were valid (from firms outside of Fresno)<\/li>\n<li>95 listings were spam or inaccurate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of the 95 spam\/inaccurate listings, some firms are using completely false law firm names. But most of the time, these are mostly lawyers using virtual office addresses hundreds of miles away from their actual physical location. (Verifying these addresses are virtual \/ shared offices is as simple as copying their address shown on their LSA ad, pasting it into Google search and looking at the results.)<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I searched for injury lawyers in Fresno and all 100 LSA results I got had a review rating of 5.0<br \/>Considering that, the biz names, multi listings for same biz and lack of verifying if the locations are real, I don&#8217;t see how anyone at Google could feel okay about these results <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KGM90PuhOk\">pic.twitter.com\/KGM90PuhOk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tom Waddington (@tomwaddington8) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tomwaddington8\/status\/1550855925623300098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 23, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The 4 big problems LSA has are spammy locations, fake reviews, fake business names &amp; overlapping ads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spammy_locations_Are_virtual_offices_%E2%80%9Cspam%E2%80%9D_or_%E2%80%9Cinaccurate%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Spammy locations: Are virtual offices \u201cspam\u201d or \u201cinaccurate\u201d?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On their<a href=\"https:\/\/ads.google.com\/local-services-ads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Local Services Ads page<\/a>, Google informs advertisers <em>\u201cLocal Services ads help you connect with people who search on Google for the services you offer. Your ads will show up for customers in your service area\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, when LSA spam or inaccurate listings infiltrate an area, the reach of local advertisers\u2019 ads is often severely limited. In some cases, the spam and\/or inaccurate listings are so thick, that legitimate advertisers\u2019 ads stop displaying altogether.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what Google says about advertiser\u2019s locations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On the<a href=\"https:\/\/ads.google.com\/local-services-ads\/faq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> LSA FAQ page<\/a>, Google states <em>\u201cWhile you can have more than one Google Local Services Ads account and location, each location needs to have its own address and be verified by our team.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li>LSA\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/adspolicy\/answer\/6245891\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> platform policies<\/a> state that <em>\u201cTargeting your ads to areas that are far from your business location, and\/or that you can\u2019t reasonably serve, creates a negative and potentially confusing experience for consumers. In addition, attempts to target unreasonably large service areas from a single, or few, business locations could trigger review for subverting our misrepresentation policy.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Virtual Office style locations are used by advertisers because proximity is one of the factors affecting the<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/localservices\/answer\/7527305\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> LSA ad ranking algorithm<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When someone opens a new LSA account for a law firm, LSA primarily checks to see if the attorney is registered with the State Bar. Unlike Google Business Profile pages, which generally require some sort of verification such as a postcard or video verification, advertisers can simply enter an address in the region they wish to target.<\/p>\n<p>Every advertiser I\u2019ve spoken with interprets LSA\u2019s guidelines similarly and concurs that creating an LSA in a city 500 miles away from where you\u2019re actually located would be creating an ad which is out of compliance. That said, they could all be wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Google Business Profile<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/3038177\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Guidelines<\/a> are significantly more specific and state:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>To qualify for a Business Profile on Google, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>If your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn\u2019t operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office, that location isn\u2019t eligible for a Business Profile.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Businesses can\u2019t list an office at a co-working space unless that office maintains clear signage, receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed during business hours by your business staff.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s important to remember that Google Business Profile and Local Services Ads are indeed two separate products.<\/p>\n<p>It is my opinion that Virtual Offices are either spam or, at best, inaccurate. This is open for debate, and LSA support representatives don\u2019t seem to know the answer either; different support reps provide different answers to this question.<\/p>\n<p>The only thing we can be certain of here is that we\u2019re rapidly reaching a boiling point. Regardless of how LSA views virtual offices, I am not aware of Google ever taking any action on them, and neither are most other people.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Based on what I&#8217;ve heard in the last 2 years, the LSA team doesn&#8217;t act on these or find them in violation, even if the guidelines aren&#8217;t clear.  Tom, have you ever seen them remove a VO?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoyanneHawkins\/status\/1304546057209208839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">September 11, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fake_LSA_reviews\"><\/span>Fake LSA reviews:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Although ads are rotated out frequently, some ads perform better than others. This is because Google has an algorithm that decides which LSAs will display in Google Screened first.<\/p>\n<p>One of the factors influencing the LSA ad rank is reviews. Spammers know this and blast their listings with reviews. Fake LSA reviews are easy to purchase online in the $15 \u2013 $25 range.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I mean, verified LSA reviews cost more than Local Guides <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/13.1.0\/72x72\/1f602.png\" alt=\"\ud83d\ude02\" class=\"wp-smiley\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/y4dRwNLwvT\">pic.twitter.com\/y4dRwNLwvT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Curtis Boyd (@DataBoyd) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DataBoyd\/status\/1550610291045502976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">July 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Local Services Ads platform pulls in reviews from a Google Business Profile account (when there\u2019s one associated with it \u2013 LSA does not require an associated GBP page). LSAs can also receive reviews directly through the LSA platform.<\/p>\n<p>Fake LSA reviews are difficult to identify as the public can\u2019t click the reviewer\u2019s profile. Although, if you look at enough reviews, you\u2019ll eventually see a pattern, notice the keyword stuffing or recognize some of the names.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fake_business_names\"><\/span>Fake business names<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Another problem LSA for lawyers has is fake business names. It\u2019s possible some of the firms blasting LSA with dozens of listings have a DBA in place. After all, at the time of this article, a DBA in California is only $26.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not going to name names here, but if you look at LSAs in California, you\u2019ll begin seeing the same faces over and over again with different law firm names. One firm in particular has set up a variety of ads under a variety of names using around 17 different lawyers. They now have an enormous number of LSA accounts \u2013 probably 200 or so.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority of the time, if you scroll to the bottom of a Google Screened result and can locate the attorney\u2019s name, you can plug their name into the State Bar site and see which law firm they actually work with.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Overlapping_ads_firms_ranking_multiple_times\"><\/span>Overlapping ads &amp; firms ranking multiple times<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A problem I am seeing in multiple cities is \u201coverlapping ads\u201d. This occurs when one law firm targets the same geographic area with multiple accounts.This can occur either accidentally or intentionally. When a company with 200 accounts or so targets your state, you can rest assured that one business will often take up 2 or all 3 of the precious top 3 ad spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Google<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/localservices\/answer\/7527305\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> says<\/a>: <em>\u201cIf your business has multiple locations that serve the same geographic area, Local Services will show only the highest ranking ad in response to a user\u2019s query.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is not true. Local Services most definitely shows overlapping ads and has done so for years. They could indeed be working to fix this, however, ads still frequently overlap, and there\u2019s no good way to inform LSA support about this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a screenshot which shows one attorney showing up twice in the top of Google Screened results:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/cDWXjRJ1iejJ4h94f7bK46aqTnjJXG41M3YkRKiMTSk_u1p1hq4k8NQ9QaYFM70Y9SOI_5GDAI86bq2X64hDKkDdtl-MTDFGF_dhcXW3Z7d1awm-8LUyaKYBtOFQM47kGp8P0W4XPmcvMhzGt3IyimM\" alt=\"| Craig Hordlow\" title=\"| Craig Hordlow\"><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Possible_solutions_Google_could_implement\"><\/span>Possible solutions Google could implement:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I have heard that Google is working on a scalable solution in an effort to reduce spam. Maybe they are, maybe they aren\u2019t. Even if they come up with one, manual intervention will still be needed, just like on all Google products, as fighting spam will always be a game of cat and mouse.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what I\u2019ve unsuccessfully tried so far:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is a form to<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/localservices\/answer\/9008912\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> report inaccurate content<\/a>. I\u2019ve used it several times. Unfortunately, nothing has ever come from any of my reports. Ever. I fill out the report, submit the form, and then \u2013 nothing happens.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019ve called LSA support and informed them of spam on a few occasions. The support reps are unable to help; they simply say that they\u2019re unable to discuss other advertiser\u2019s accounts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are a couple of things Google could try which works well for their other products:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Address Verification: There is no address verification when a new LSA account is created like there is with Google Business Profile pages (at least for lawyers).<\/li>\n<li>Spam Reporting: In Google Maps, anyone can<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/maps\/answer\/3094088\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> easily flag<\/a> a listing for inaccurate, incorrect, or fraudulent listings. This type of report doesn\u2019t always work, but at least the option exists.<\/li>\n<li>Complaint Form: Advanced users can report spam or bulk Google Business Profile spam via the oddly named<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/contact\/business_redressal_form\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Business Redressal Complaint Form<\/a>. Having a spam report form, which LSA support actually acts on, is vital in my opinion.<\/li>\n<li>Help Community: I believe Google needs a \u201cHelp Community\u201d for Local Services Ads. There\u2019s a<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/communit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Google Business Profile Help Community<\/a>, a<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Google Ads Community<\/a> and a product forum or<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/communities\/answer\/7424249\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> help community<\/a> for most Google products. Why is there no LSA Help Community? While this alone may not stop spam, users could at least bring it to Google\u2019s attention via Product Experts easier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Recap\"><\/span>Recap<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Google<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/localservices\/answer\/9376654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> tells users<\/a> that Google Screened professionals have passed extensive background checks and helps professionals build trusted reputations online. However, local advertisers are having trouble getting their ads seen because Google Screened results are full of spammy listings, virtual locations, non-existent law firms and listings manipulated with fake reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Violations could be manually remedied until a more scalable solution is in place.<\/p>\n<p>End users, advertisers and marketing agencies need a way to report spam where action is taken.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/googles-local-services-ads-platform-has-a-problem-with-spam-386890\" target=\"_blank\">Google\u2019s Local Services Ads platform has a problem with spam<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I primarily run Local Services Ads for personal injury law firms, and most of the problems I\u2019m encountering are in California. While I can\u2019t speak for every vertical or geographic region, if the problems are affecting attorneys in California, there is (or will soon be) a spam problem coming to a town near you. Below we\u2019ll look at some of the spam issues LSA has &amp; explore how Google might remedy them. How much spam is there? The spam began in September 2020, then a huge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5380\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}