Speaker 1: 0:19

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: 0:33

Yeah, we're talking fake reviews, fake listings, the whole works. We've been digging into this report from Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Roundtable. Actually, it was just published on April 8th 2025, so it's really fresh.

Speaker 1: 0:46

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

Speaker 2: 0:49

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

Speaker 1: 0:51

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 0:52

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

Speaker 1: 0:54

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: 1:05

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: 1:16

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

Speaker 2: 1:29

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

Speaker 1: 1:33

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: 1:38

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: 1:47

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

Speaker 2: 1:52

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: 2:01

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

Speaker 2: 2:05

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

Speaker 1: 2:09

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

Speaker 2: 2:13

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: 2:19

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: 2:28

Well, they're going after the source. They put posting restrictions on over 900,000 accounts in 2024 because these accounts were constantly violating their policies.

Speaker 1: 2:37

So basically trying to weed out those bad actors.

Speaker 2: 2:40

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: 2:48

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

Speaker 2: 2:52

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: 3:01

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

Speaker 2: 3:04

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: 3:15

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: 3:25

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: 3:38

So what does it do?

Speaker 2: 3:39

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

Speaker 1: 3:44

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: 3:49

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

Speaker 1: 3:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 3:55

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

Speaker 1: 4:03

Oh yeah, what were those numbers again?

Speaker 2: 4:05

Well, in 2019, Google blocked 75 million reviews.

Speaker 1: 4:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:09

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

Speaker 1: 4:14

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

Speaker 2: 4:17

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

Speaker 1: 4:21

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:21

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

Speaker 1: 4:25

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

Speaker 2: 4:30

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: 4:42

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

Speaker 2: 4:48

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: 4:59

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

Speaker 2: 5:07

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

Speaker 1: 5:11

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: 5:19

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: 5:33

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

Speaker 2: 5:36

Absolutely yeah, especially with all this spam flying around.

Speaker 1: 5:39

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: 5:57

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: 6:12

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