Yes, your competitors can edit your Google My Business listings to steal your leads! 😱

Here’s how it works and how you can ensure it doesn’t happen to your listing. Shady businesses (SEO8) can ruin your marketing efforts meaning you lose leads and calls. It’s low and dirty but it happens a lot.

This article is published and optimised for public awareness. Ordinarily we would swerve this kind of negativity but these kinds of tactics can really damage your business so we’re calling them out.

We’re passionate about protecting our clients and ensuring that full control is always in our clients hands.

How SEO8 tried to scam Medway SEO (and failed badly)

A few days back, we received an email from Google advising us that our listing had been updated. We have made no recent updates to our listing.

Our telephone number was changed to another Medway SEO business called ‘SEO8’

Imagine if were to never have received an email from Google?

SEO8 Case Study:

Scammers look for unverified map listings, then edit the information. These listings can have website addresses and telephone numbers changed. You may have seen the ‘suggest an edit’ link on other listings.

The main issues is that with unverified listings, you won’t be notified and the new information will stay live until you notice it. Assuming you all look at your Google listings regularly right?

Is your Google My Business account verified?

If it’s not, you may be at risk of having your leads stolen by cheap SEO scammers.

GET YOUR GMB LISTING VERIFIED!

If your GMB is verified, you’ll be notified by email and your edits are updated almost instantly. While this is a bit of a laborious task, it’s better than watching someone else update your listing and realising that you have no control.

This genuine link from Google explains how to get verified:

https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242?hl=en-GB

About SEO8 and how they appear to operate

A quick search revealed that the new number was added by a pop up company called  ‘SEO8’. A business using an office address at Cliffe House, Anthonys Way, Rochester ME2 4DY.

They previously used another name with and the grammar in the site copy is probably indicative of the kind of service you’d be likely receive from them. Be very careful, companies using these tactics to rank can seriously damage your business.

Spam program ‘XRumer’ they posted on Google.

XRumer is a piece of software made for spamming online forums and comment sections. It is marketed as a program for search engine optimization and was created by BotmasterLabs. It is able to register and post to forums (forum spam) with the aim of boosting search engine rankings.

SPAM AND BLACK HAT SEO TACTICS CAN LEAD TO YOUR SITE BANNED FROM GOOGLE. DON’T RISK IT.

Notice the content on the site is made using text from a theme template:

We’re not worried about them as competition, in fact here’s the link to their site. They have an insecure SSL certificate so be careful not to submit information.

https://seo8.co.uk/

Beware companies that use black hat SEO techniques to rank. If they are happy to scam other local businesses they will scam anyone, including customers.

This image shows where we rank in spite of this businesses and its shady efforts. Still number 1, still top of the map pack.

Medway SEO – top of the map pack in spite of SEO8

Read more about the GMB scams here:

Scammers Swap Phone Number With Legit Business, Customers Pay Price

https://moz.com/blog/competitors-edit-listing-google-my-business

If you’re serious about ranking, make sure you only use white hat SEO methods. It’s just not worth losing your listing to unscrupulous businesses or spammers.

We’ve been operating Medway SEO in Rochester for over 6 years and can help protect your business against spammers, scammers and dodgy business practices. If you’d like to discuss working with a reputable business that can actually get you ranked without using underhand methods, contact us today and let’s get you started on the right path to ranking.