Speaker 1 0:00

All right , everybody , if you're listening in , you're probably busy right Running your business and all that , so let's just get straight to it . Today we're looking at something that's super relevant to just about any local business out there Spam on Google Maps .

Speaker 2 0:14

Yeah , we're talking fake reviews , fake listings , the whole works . We've been digging into this report

Intro to Google Maps Spam Problem

Speaker 2 0:19

from Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Roundtable . Actually , it was just published on April 8th 2025 , so it's really fresh .

Speaker 1 0:27

And Barry really knows his stuff right . I mean , he's been covering search marketing forever .

Speaker 2 0:30

Oh yeah , he's a real veteran in this space .

Speaker 1 0:32

Yeah .

Speaker 2 0:33

So when he points something out it's worth paying attention to .

Speaker 1 0:35

For sure . So today what we want to do is kind of break down this report for you , pull out those really important numbers and facts so you can get a better sense of just how big this problem of fake reviews and listings actually is .

Speaker 2 0:46

Yeah , let's jump right in , because the numbers themselves are kind of shocking . To start , google blocked or removed over 240 million reviews last year in 2024 that violated their policies .

Speaker 1 0:57

Wow , 240 million , that's a lot and , just to put that in perspective , that's a huge increase compared to 2023 .

Shocking Spam Statistics Revealed

Speaker 2 1:10

Exactly . It's over 40 percent more than the 170 million they blocked in 2023 .

Speaker 1 1:14

So yeah , it's a growing problem . For sure Makes you wonder how many people were being influenced by those fake reviews before they got taken down right .

Speaker 2 1:19

Absolutely , and it's not just the reviews themselves . Either . Google also blocked or removed over 70 million edits to places on Google Maps .

Speaker 1 1:28

So like fake addresses and stuff or businesses trying to list themselves in the wrong categories .

Speaker 2 1:33

Exactly Things like that , plus misleading descriptions , all kinds of stuff designed to basically trick the system . And then there's the totally fake business profiles .

Speaker 1 1:42

Yeah , those are the worst , you know , the ones that just pop up out of nowhere .

Speaker 2 1:46

Right . Google took down over 12 million of those fake profiles in 2024 .

Speaker 1 1:50

12 million , so even more than the fake edits to real businesses .

Speaker 2 1:54

Yeah , and what's crazy is that's the same number they removed in 2023 . So it seems like that part of the problem isn't getting any better .

Speaker 1 2:00

Wow . So they're clearly working hard to take down the fake stuff , but what about stopping those fake reviews and listings from being created in the first place ? What's Google doing there ?

Speaker 2 2:09

Well , they're going after

Google's AI Defense Strategy

Speaker 2 2:10

the source . They put posting restrictions on over 900,000 accounts in 2024 because these accounts were constantly violating their policies .

Speaker 1 2:18

So basically trying to weed out those bad actors .

Speaker 2 2:21

Yep , and to do all of this they're leaning heavily on technology . Those bad actors , Yep , and to do all of this they're leaning heavily on technology , specifically AI and these really advanced machine learning algorithms .

Speaker 1 2:29

Yeah , barry , even mentioned Google's using their Gemini AI models . Now right .

Speaker 2 2:33

Uh-huh . He quoted Google , saying that AI has been a pivotal tool in helping us stop scammers in their tracks , and we're now using it to scale our protections even more .

Speaker 1 2:42

So AI is like their secret weapon in this fight against spam .

Speaker 2 2:45

It kind of has to be right . Imagine trying to sift through 240 million reviews manually . There's no way . But AI can do it really efficiently and it's constantly learning and getting better at spotting those fake reviews and listings .

Speaker 1 2:56

Makes sense , so AI is helping them play defense . But Barry also mentioned something about a new system Google is rolling out to help businesses that are being targeted by spammers . What was that all about ?

Speaker 2 3:06

Yeah , this is actually pretty interesting . It's a new alert system and , believe it or not , it actually launched back in December 2023 . It's currently running in the US and UK and India , with plans to go global , like next month .

Speaker 1 3:18

So what does it do ?

Speaker 2 3:20

It basically tells businesses if Google has removed any suspicious five-star reviews from their listing .

Speaker 1 3:25

Oh , that's smart . So if you see your five-star reviews suddenly drop , you'll know that maybe some fake ones were removed .

Speaker 2 3:30

Exactly . It helps businesses stay on top of things and understand someone's trying to manipulate their ratings .

Speaker 1 3:35

Yeah .

Speaker 2 3:36

And to really see how big this

Impact on Legitimate Businesses

Speaker 2 3:38

problem is , Barry included a chart in his article that shows just how much this spam has grown over time .

Speaker 1 3:44

Oh yeah , what were those numbers again ?

Speaker 2 3:46

Well , in 2019 , Google blocked 75 million reviews .

Speaker 1 3:49

Yeah .

Speaker 2 3:50

Then it jumped to 115 million in 2020 and 170 million in 2023 .

Speaker 1 3:55

Wow . So it's more than tripled in just a few years .

Speaker 2 3:58

Yep , and now we're at 240 million in 2024 . It's crazy .

Speaker 1 4:02

Yeah .

Speaker 2 4:02

So clearly Google's having to really ramp up their efforts just to keep up .

Speaker 1 4:05

So , even with all this work by Google , barry mentioned that there are still some frustrated business owners out there , right ?

Speaker 2 4:11

Yeah , Unfortunately , even with all these systems in place , sometimes legitimate businesses get caught in the crossfire . They might have their listing suspended or reviews removed unfairly and it can be a real hassle to get those issues resolved .

Speaker 1 4:23

It's like the classic problem with any automated system , right ? No matter how good it gets , it's never perfect .

Speaker 2 4:29

Exactly , and sometimes that human touch is still needed to sort things out . But Barry did emphasize that overall Google's efforts as a good thing for local businesses .

Speaker 1 4:40

Absolutely . It creates a much more level playing field for everyone and it helps consumers trust the information they're seeing online .

Speaker 2 4:47

Right , because ultimately , if people can't trust Google Maps reviews , then nobody wins .

Speaker 1 4:51

So it sounds like local businesses need to be proactive about managing their online reputation and making sure they're doing everything they can to attract genuine positive reviews .

Speaker 2 5:00

For sure , and there are tools out there that can help with this , like Rainmaker , reputation , aicrm that can help businesses get more authentic reviews , monitor their online presence and just generally stay ahead of the curve when it comes to reputation management .

Speaker 1 5:14

Yeah , having the right tools is so important these days .

Speaker 2 5:17

Absolutely yeah , especially with all this

Tools and Solutions for Business Owners

Speaker 2 5:19

spam flying around .

Speaker 1 5:20

So , to recap what we learned from Barry Schwartz's report today , the problem of fake reviews and listings on Google Maps is absolutely massive . It's growing rapidly and Google is having to work harder and harder to keep up , but they are fighting back using sophisticated AI and new alert systems to protect both businesses and consumers .

Speaker 2 5:38

And while there are still challenges and frustrations for business owners , these efforts by Google are a step in the right direction . And frustrations for business owners , these efforts by Google are a step in the right direction and using tools like Rainmaker , reputation , ai , crm can help you navigate this tricky landscape and protect your business .

Speaker 1 5:53

So here's something to think about as you go about your day how can your local business build and maintain real , genuine trust with your customers in this digital age where

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways

Speaker 1 6:02

spam and misinformation are everywhere ? It's a question worth pondering . We'll see you in the next Deep Dive .