I manage a Google Business listing for a shopping center in Lexington NC. The center has a problem with people promoting and holding illegal car shows in the parking lot of the shopping center during off hours. There is a local guide that is promoting these events by posting car photos to the center’s business listing. I would like to respectfully ask that she stop, but I can’t figure out a way to contact her and Google has not been helpful at all in addressing this issue. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you.
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Hi @TEW1957
Thanks for asking. This forum is for volunteer local guides only. Business owners have their own help pages and forum.
Here is the GBP help center and you find the GBP forum here.
The interests of a business owner and a local guide should not be mixed since there can be conflicts of interest. So please delete your account here on Connect should your primary interest be your business.
That said, your initial step should be to flag the photos posted to the wrong pins.
You could also share the link to the Maps profile of the spammer in a private message to me here on Connect. And I will take a look.
Cheers
Morten
Thank you for your response and your willingness to help. I have flagged the photos repeatedly. Google removes them but the guides keep posting more. I’ve included the links to the two guides who are posting these photos below. The issue is that the shopping center is having a problem with these impromptu and unauthorized car shows being conducted in their parking lot. It has become a party atmosphere with drugs and alcohol involved and is a liability issue for the shopping center owners. The local police are trying to address the issue but they cannot do anything about the online promotion.
Once again, thank you. I apologize if this is not the right forum, but I’ve exhausted all other measures.
Hi @TEW1957
Your requests to have these users blocked and images removed will not be successful because they are not violating any Google guidelines as far as I can see.
Kindly remove the links you shared publicly. I asked you to share them privately only. To do this you need to edit your reply. Edit is available under the 3-dot icon.
Cheers
Morten
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So it is not against Google Guidelines to promote illegal events on someone else’s private property on that business’s Google listing?
Maybe not, but it is certainly unethical. I would think that you would at least request these “guides” to stop because the owners of the property do not want these events to take place or be promoted online or any other way. They are putting the property owners at risk.