A recent study by the Wall Street Journal found that a wide range of counterfeit businesses has been discovered on Google Maps. During the study, the Journal investigators found only 2 businesses with legitimate addresses out of 20 listings, the report reveals.
Google is not the only technology giant with fake accounts. In the past, Facebook, Twitter, and other social giants have removed millions of fake profiles from their platforms. Scammers use many deceptive techniques to bypass the authentication process on the Internet. However, undermine does not last long.
With thousands of new accounts being added every month to Google's database, Google Maps is bombarded with over 11 million fake listings. Most of the fake business listings found in the study are contractors, repairmen, and car towing services, which are either never-existed or closed ones.
Google has already addressed the fake listings by internally calling it 'duress verticals'. In terms of Google's study, duress verticals are the companies people turn to in emergencies and typically without much time to verify the business'.
We have also closed one of the businesses. Does that still sound a fake listing?
In 2017, Google conducted autodidactic study claiming that only 0.5 percent of local searches are false listings and the rest ones are valid. However, the WSJ reveals more than 11 million false listings during the study.
Knowing that people trust what Google shows from its Database, scammers use the most reliable and search-friendly Web mapping service Google Maps to deceive the searchers. To tackle these challenges, Google offers "Suggest an edit" option to the searcher. If the information found to be true then a researcher can suggest an edit either by updating the current information to reflect the recent changes or can suggest "remove this place".
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