Google revealed that they removed seven million fake business profiles in 2021 to make the information in Google Maps more reliable. Additionally, Google stated that they also prevented tens of millions of fake business profiles from being created on the platform. They also disabled over a million fake user accounts.
Over the years, Google has been working to further verify the legitimacy of information in Google Business Profiles and Google Maps. And as more people are claiming businesses on the platform, the verification methods become increasingly challenging to indeed check the legitimacy of each business.
According to Google, they received over 20 million contributions from Google Maps users. These contributions include information about a place’s contact information, updated business hours, reviews, and photos.
Statistics of Fake Info Removed from Google Business Profiles and Google Maps
To give us an insight into what Google and its developers worked on to maintain and secure the information in Google Maps and Business Profiles, the company published these numbers:
- 7 million fake Business Profiles were removed.
- 100 million abusive edits were blocked.
- 630,000 reports were made on fake Business Profiles and handled.
- 12 million attempts to create fake Business Profiles were stopped.
- 8 million attempts to falsely claim a Business Profile were handled.
- 1 million accounts were disabled due to malicious activities such as fraud.
- 95 million malicious reviews were removed or blocked.
- 1 million reviews were deleted that were directly reported.
- 190 million photos and 5 million videos were removed due to low quality or violated content policies.
With these actions taken, Google promises users that they are committed to ensuring that Google Business Profile and Google Maps information is reliable. They also encourage users to report directly to Google if they notice any fraudulent information contributed to other business profiles.
Reliability of Local Business Information
For Google to keep local business information reliable, its algorithm combines machine learning and human operators to identify the content in Business Profiles and Maps.
According to Google, users contributed 30% more to businesses in 2021 than in 2020. However, less than 1% was considered fraudulent or abusive. This small percentage of fraud only indicates most contributions are well-intentioned.
Google also explained that they catch most malicious content before going live or publishing in Google Search or Maps.
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Google Business Profiles and Google Maps have significantly contributed to developing the local search result algorithm. The two are considered factors for businesses to rank high on Google’s local search results. If your business isn’t found in Google Maps or doesn’t have a Google Business Profile, your business is losing a lot of opportunities.
If you want to rank on local search results, let Cybertegic help you. We are the best marketing agency in Pasadena. We have helped hundreds of businesses rank on top of Google Search Results. Schedule a free business consultation with us to know more.
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