In Google’s report on how to keep map information reliable, the search company revealed that it removed 7 million fake business profiles in 2021.
In addition, Google prevented tens of millions of fake business profiles from being created and disabled more than a million user accounts belonging to “bad guys.”
Verifying the legitimacy of information in Google Business Profiles and Google Maps has become increasingly challenging as the number of contributions increases year by year.
Google now receives 20 million daily contributions from Maps users, such as updated hours, contact information, photos, and reviews.
Here are the key takeaways from Google Reports about keeping your Maps and Business Profile information accurate.
How Google ensures the reliability of local business listings
Google uses a combination of machine learning and human operators to identify fraudulent or abusive content in maps and business profiles.
People are contributing 30% more content to businesses in 2021 compared to 2020, although less than 1% are considered fraudulent or abusive.
The small percentage of fraudulent content suggests that most contributions are well-intentioned, but sometimes “bad actors” try to make abusive edits or create fake business profiles.
Google catches most malicious content before it goes live in Search and Maps. Below is the amount of content detected in 2021.
Remove false information from Google Maps and business profiles in 2021
In 2021, Google:
- blocked 100000000 Abuse editing online.
- removed Seven million Falsified business information.
- received 630K Reports of false commercial profiles for which action has been taken.
- stop 12 million Attempt to create false commercial profiles.
- stop Eight million Attempting to solicit business materials from people who do not belong to them.
- disabled one million User accounts due to policy-violating activity such as online sabotage or fraud.
- put protection on it 100K Businesses after suspicious activity and abuse attempts are detected.
- blocked or removed 95 million Comments that violate the policy.
- win one million Directly reported comments.
- blocked or removed 190 million photos and five million Videos of poor quality or content policy violations.
Google is always committed to ensuring the reliability of Google Maps and Business Profile information.
If you find that fraudulent information has been contributed to your or any other business profile, you can report it directly to Google at any time.
As this data shows, Google does take action based on the reports it receives.
Featured image: TonelsonProductions/Shutterstock
