Salute, Fellow Local Guides!
Two years ago I shared: Tips & Tricks to remove inactive businesses.
Since then I have gained more experience, so this updated version contains more detailed steps you can use when evaluating if a pin is alive, dead, or simply spam.
Cleaner and more accurate maps are more helpful to users who may waste less time trying to reach non-existing businesses. Also, sorting through search results will be quicker with fewer fake and obsolete pins.
I really like to remove deceptive and obsolete pins from Google Maps. There are thousands if not millions of them just waiting for us to clean them out. This work gives me an odd feeling of satisfaction while contributing to the Local Guides Clean the Maps-project.
Bear in mind that the situation in your region can be very different. You may need to focus more on adding more businesses rather than removing dead and fake ones. But this article is about 10 decision steps you can use when removing dead and spammy pins.
My pin checks usually include the following steps:
Step 1:
Could this be a private home?
Private homes are not privileged to pins on Google Maps as explained in Places you can’t add to the map? A pin in a residential neighborhood is a lot more likely to be a private home, an inactive business, or an online-only business. In my neighborhood, I know which areas are typically for business, shopping, industry, and where people live (residential areas). This can often also be deducted from looking at the map in standard view, satellite view, street view, and by checking other pins nearby you can relatively easily figure out if an area is residential or not. Some private homes are clearly named as such (“Peter and Joanna’s house”), or as a private celebration (“Bill’s bachelor party”, Parking for Tom’s party"), or they are named exactly as a person. But be careful because some professionals run a legit business from their private homes. Such businesses can be named directly after the owner. If in doubt you should always look up the phone number (see step  to check if the number belongs to a private individual or a business. Phone directories will often tell if a number is business or private. Most online phone directories will clearly mark numbers as either a business or private.If you are convinced a pin is representing a private it can be suggested removed using the reason “Not open to the public”. If in doubt, do nothing. I often use step 1 to systematically scan the map for private homes in residential areas. |
|---|
Step 2:
Could this be an inactive or dormant business?
In my country, there are loads of inactive businesses that have been imported from other databases onto Google Maps. Those include Holding companies and Homeowners associations. Holding companies are created with the sole purpose to save on taxes. “Holding” will always be part of the name. All they do yearly financial statements for the tax authorities who very demand they are formally registered as a business. They may own property but they have no office, staff, or external clients. When found in a residential area or at lawyer’s offices you can be very sure this is not a place Maps users can visit. Homeowners associations are very common in Denmark. They too are formally registered as businesses, but all they do is organize an annual meeting and they do some bookkeeping. They have no real address, people can not visit or contact them. Having them on Google Maps is not helpful to anyone. There may not be similar dormant businesses in your country. But here in Denmark, it is very easy to find them via a text search. I just search for “holding” or one of the different types of homeowners associations, and I can start cleaning them using the reason “Not open to the public” after a careful evaluation of the information listed under the pin as described in step 3. |
|---|
Step 3:
Open the pin and evaluate the amount of data added.
Check if there are any ratings, recent and authentic reviews, or relevant photos beyond 360 images from the Streetview car. If so, please consider this an active and live business not to be removed. Pins with no more than a name and an address are most likely not active. If step 4 does not confirm the existence of the business I would suggest it be removed as “Does not exist here”. |
|---|
Step 4:
Do a quick Google Search on the business name.
If you are using a Desktop computer, a Google Search is automatically done for you when you open a pin. The search results can be found on the lower-left side of the screen. If you are on a mobile device, you need to manually copy-paste the name to make the search. Based on the search results you are likely to be able to determine if the business is existing. In Denmark, it is very unlikely that an active business has no online presence or mention. This might not be the case where you live. If the Google search reveals links to a Facebook or Instagram account I will visit to check when the newest posts/photos were added. Or maybe there is a news story from when the business was established. If inactive for 1-2 years I will consider suggesting the business be removed as “Permanently closed”. As you know, Permanently closed pins can be reopened later should I make a mistake or the business start operating again. |
|---|
Step 5:
Do reviews appear genuine?
Normally the presence of reviews is a sign that the business is legit. Especially, if there are both positive and negative reviews and the reviews are from Maps users who have added a lot of reviews, and reviews were added over a long period. Authentic reviews will often describe a specific service or product in detail and the reviewer will explain what was good or bad. On the other hand, if reviews: - are posted by Maps users having added very few reviews - are posted over a short time - are unrealistic positive - are posted by profiles with suspiciously common or foreign names - are very short - are very generic and general (not proving they have been there or been a customer) - could be copy-pasted - are always replied to by the owner - or there is an unrealistic number of reviews or star-ratings these are all signs that this might not a legit business. Bonus tip: You can try opening the Maps profiles of some of the suspected spam reviewers. They might be employees, family members of the owner or you find that the same group of profiles coordinated posting fake reviews to other places also. If you find some or many of these indicators of spam reviews posted to a pin, this warrants careful further inspection in steps 6-10 before determining if the business is a scam or not. You can always flag individual fake reviews and take it a step further by also flagging the profiles suspected of posting fake reviews. Please see How to identify and report fraud on Google Maps and You can now report entire profiles for abuse on Google Maps. And you can find more tips on spotting fake reviews in How to spot fake reviews? or watch Local Guides Clean The Map (Community Live 2020: Session G) with Adrian and Jan. |
|---|
Step 6:
Is the listing claimed by the owner?
If the “Claim this business” link is missing for a pin, this means the business has been claimed and the ownership verified by the rightful owners. This normally means the business is probably not dead, but it can still be spam. You should always dig deeper before suggesting a claimed business to be removed. |
|---|
Step 7:
If a phone number is listed, then look it up in the best available Online Phone Directory.
If the number is unknown, this strongly suggests the business is dead. No active/serious business will have a dead phone number! If the number returns a business name and an address do check if match those on Google Maps. In a future post, I will share links to some of the best online phone directories available. |
|---|
Step 8:
If a website is listed, then open it.
If the link is dead, under construction, or very outdated this implies the business is probably not active. Else, you should check the business name, the address, and the phone number. Do they match what you see on Maps? Such info can often be found under “Contact us”. You may also want to make a note of the kind of services or products the business offers. This could come in handy in the next step. |
|---|
Step 9:
Consider the category
Some categories are more prone to be scam listings. These include businesses that provide services delivered directly to customers’ homes. Typical Service Area Businesses with no physical address on Google Maps. And often do not depend on customer satisfaction for repeat business. And these are often services that you rarely will need like - Locksmidts - Household appliance repair - Duct cleaning services Some dude makes fake business listings on Google Maps to attract customers. All he does is to pick up the phone and then sell these customer leads on to legit local businesses for a profit as explained by Jan Van Haver here. You might spot huge discrepancies in what the name reflects and what category is selected for a pin. This could be a sign of the pin being obsolete. Also, not having a category selected can be a sign that the business is not alive and you need to investigate further. Your research so far may enable you to add a (better) category. |
|---|
Step 10:
If still in doubt, I also check the National Business Registry.
The business registration number can often be found on websites. If not, then the phone number, the business name, or the address can be searched for in the National Business Registry. If no record is found the business is most likely not legit. The Business Registry is a definitive source for marking businesses as Permanently closed when a closing date is listed. If the business is listed in the Business Registry, you should check if the name, address, and category are the same as on Google Maps. Businesses with an active status in the National Business Registry should not be removed from Google Maps. |
|---|
When using these steps there are no clear-cut rules when you should try to remove a pin. You may reach a conclusion after a few steps or you may need to complete all the steps before you can conclude whether to remove or leave a pin. It depends on your experience, cultural insights, and common sense. If all your edits come back approved then you are probably doing a good job. The feedback from Google Maps on your edits should inform you and can help you improve over time.
If in any doubt, do not remove the pin.
And please keep in mind, places marked “Permanently closed” can be reopened later. So this removal option should always be used if you are not 100% sure. Places removed with “Doesn’t exist here” or “Not open to the public” will be removed irreversibly.
By the way, steps 4, 7, and 8 can also be used when trying to add new places to Google Maps. If a 4) Google Search can find the business, and 7) the phone number returns the same name and address, and the website shows the same name and address your new place will be approved immediately in most cases. I call this pre-verification.
I hope you learned something new and useful. If you disagree, found mistakes, have questions, or want to share your experiences, please do so in the comments below.
Cheers
Morten
PS:
Supplementary tools
- Check Google Streetview. Do you see any signs of the business? Please always check when the Streetview images are from before making any conclusions. The month and year can easily be found on the desktop version of Google Streetview. - Who-is databases can be used to find out who owns a website. - Web-shops with no physical address are not entitled to a listing on Google Maps. Under “Contact us” you can check if they have a physical address, a phone number or they only can be reached via email etc. Another trick is to check if returns and pick-up of goods can be done in person. - Find addresses of lawyers and property management firms. Then look up all the businesses listed at the same address as explained here. |
|---|