The Latest on Google, LinkedIn & Instagram Ads | Bullseye

Bullseye Strategy Special Correspondent

It might sound minor compared to serious crimes like murder or kidnapping, but for digital marketing nerds like your friends here at Bullseye Strategy, the rampant creation of fake Google Maps business listings is inspiring us to fantasize about vigilante justice. The only thing that’s calmed us down as we grappled with this week’s news that there have been 11 million fraudulent local business listings on everyone’s favorite search engine has been some very good news for marketers from LinkedIn and Instagram. Here are some of the highlights from our roller coaster of a week.

Google Fakers, Exposed!

Let’s get back to those 11 million fraudulent local business listings on Google Maps: the Wall Street Journal reported that hundreds of thousands of new fake listings are added each week. This is a search engine nuisance that is destructive to local businesses and consumers alike. For every law firm, towing company and hair salon that has to compete with a “local” business that doesn’t actually exist, there are hundreds of customers who are getting scammed–and at the very least are wasting their time and clicks. Some digital marketing advocates feel that Google isn’t acting fast enough to clean up the mess, and the truth is, Google ultimately stands to profit as local businesses turn to paid ads to regain search visibility. We don’t mean to sound dramatic, but we feel like current legal consequences for this destructiveness aren’t severe enough to fit the crime, and it might be time to bring back the stocks and pillories, or at least some good old-fashioned tarring and feathering.