Last week I spoke with Marc from podestabaldocchi.com, one of the florists in San Francisco that was hijacked in mid September in Google Maps. Two things struck me in the conversation.
The first was that he estimated that his business was off 30% for the weeks of the hijacking. That is a significant number that demonstrates the power that Google has conferred on local search. Research indicates that users are going to the internet for the their local buying information and Google is leading that charge. Businesses have benefited from Google’s prominent placement of local results on the main results page.
The second comment that struck me, was that he felt he only had himself to blame for not claiming the record. He noted that if he had claimed it, none of this would have happened. Of course, he added, he didn’t even know that he had a record in Google Maps but he was learning fast as to how to control it. That hit an odd note for me.
Every small business thinks that if they could only operate like the IBMs, Microsofts or Apples of the world, they would have their act together on these new marketing angles. If like, IBM et al, Podesta Baldocchi were on top of these details they could have prevented this hijacking.
I wondered if that was in fact the case so I decided to see if some of the major Fortune 500 companies had in fact claimed their records and avoided the possibility of hijackings. Microsoft came to mind first. I grabbed one of their listings in Redmond and was able to change the location, url and their business name. Microsoft even managed to gather a spammy review in its short life as an escort service 
. Out of a sense of fair play, I changed it back although Google has not yet done so. I wasn’t sure that that Microsoft or Google would appreciate my sense of humor.
So I randomly checked elsewhere in the technology arena to see who else might be susceptible…..
I only checked Apple Corporate & IBM Corporate in Armonk and they were both vulnerable. So far I was batting 1000 and not one major company that I identified had claimed their record.
Perhaps the consumer industries were more alert to the need to claim their record? Well,Coca Cola’s corporate HQs in Atlanta and GM’s HQ in Detroit were ripe for the picking as well…
All this talk of pickings and hijackings made me think of the banking crisis. Secretary Paulson’s firm, Morgan Stanley is vulnerable as are the corporate headquarters forWachovia and Lehman Bros. It adds some nuance to the meaning of the word hijacking.
The final irony in this investigation? Many of Google’s local listing had been claimed and locked down, but not all had. Here is a Google local listing you are free to modify if you are feeling a wee bit devilish this Halloween:
Should any business big or small need to worry about their business listing being hijacked when they didn’t even know that existed or that it could be hijacked? And should he suffer a 30% drop in business as a result? Marc needn’t have placed the blame on himself. “Blaming the victim”, while it has a long history in our society, really doesn’t solve this particular problem.
It appears that most businesses in the US, big and small, are “guilty” of the same sin of not having claimed their record in Google Maps. He is in good company.
RIGHT!!
That was my original complaint, that Farzamlaw had claimed my Google Maps listings. Everyone said it was impossible. Finally I am vindicated.
Comment by panzermike (130 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
I didn’t “claim it”, I edited it. Big difference. If claimed in the LBC it can only be edited by you. If not it can be edited via community edit. This is a weakness in the community edit feature not the claiming procedure. What you are saying is impossible (or at the least incredibly difficult and has yet to be demonstrated in any concrete way).
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 1:06 pm
So if Pepsi edits Coke’s headquarters….do you think they’ll get the secret recipe?
. Lots of opportunities for foul play here.
Comment by Earlpearl (383 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
@ Dave
Or perhaps jobs apps sent to the wrong address?
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
@Mike:
Okay I get it. But still, editing is basically claiming the listing as your won, correct?
Comment by panzermike (130 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
@Panzermike
No, its not. Anybody can still go in and change my Microsoft listing or vote to have the listing removed. They can also go in and see my edits. Thats not basically claiming anything.
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 1:47 pm
Ok. But then cant you edit the listing to make it contain all your business info and de facto claim it as your own, at least till someone else “edits” the listing?
Comment by panzermike (130 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
Greetings Mike-
Great article and point well taken! Lessons learned and heed the warning!
Marc
Comment by Marc (14 comments) — October 30, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
hehe..
Mike, i think you may have just woke the sleeping ‘G’iant..
Good investigation and nice white hating there..
JB
Comment by JB (4 comments) — October 31, 2008 @ 12:33 am
[...] was fast with his catch on the LBC awaiting an update! I wonder if it has something to do with his previous post that has drawn some attention. Anyway, here’s the [...]
Pingback by Google Local Business Center awaiting updates : Local Search Optimization — October 31, 2008 @ 6:03 am
@JB
I am sure that they have been working on the problem (that shouldn’t have existed in the first place)…. it will be interesting to see how long a solution takes.
I always enjoy a little “spambusting”, particularly when it involves some good old fashioned pranksterism.
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — October 31, 2008 @ 8:02 am
[...] demonstrated its flaw by doing a bit of hijacking himself. He re-labeled a Microsoft office as the MICROSOFT ESCORT SERVICE. Google protects businesses against hijacking, but only whether they actively claim their Google [...]
Pingback by Microsoft Listed As ‘Escort Service’ On Google Maps | Gadget News and Reviews — November 1, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Brilliant! Good work, Mike.
Comment by Tom Dahm (3 comments) — November 1, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
[...] Microsoft’s business record in Google Maps Hijacked!. [...]
Pingback by Weekly SEO and Search Buzz (2 Oct 08) — November 2, 2008 @ 8:08 am
Man! Google Maps is F***ing lame to let anybody do that.
Comment by Simon (2 comments) — November 2, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
[...] Comments Simon on Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by me)Weekly SEO and Search Buzz (2 Oct 08) on Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by [...]
Pingback by Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search » Hey I resemble that remark | Developing Knowledge about Local Search — November 3, 2008 @ 6:26 am
There is a validation step which goes to the business’ listed address. Why would that not stop ‘hijack’ of this kind?
—————————-Excerpt from edit screen —————————-
*Validating your listing
We’ll send a letter containing a PIN and activation instructions to the business address associated with your listing. After you validate your listing, you may edit your Google Maps listing at any time.
Comment by RM (1 comments) — November 3, 2008 @ 9:04 am
[...] and vulnerabilities with local business listings security and accuracy, Mike Blumenthal “hijacked” Microsoft’s Google Maps listing last week: I wondered if that was in fact the case so [...]
Pingback by Hijacking Google Maps « Screenwerk — November 3, 2008 @ 9:36 am
@RM
You most definitely can prevent a hijacking of your listing by claiming and validating it. In the meantime there are 12 million or so unclaimed listings in Google Maps and those owners are not aware that they need to claim them or risk being hijacked.
Since many of the hijakcings that we have seen are motivated by greed, it is unlikely to abate until Google fixes the community edit feature to make it less open to abuse.
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — November 3, 2008 @ 9:50 am
This is why ALL my clients get told how to “claim” their listing should they not have yet done so.
Nice work, by the way, on getting the word out Mike!
Comment by Stever (135 comments) — November 3, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
(cross-posted to Danny Sullivan at http://searchengineland.com/google-local-business-hijacking-microsoft-acquires-yahoo-becomes-escort-service-15313.php)
Hi Mike,
We appreciate your continued efforts to help us identify spam on Google Maps. The wiki nature of Google Maps expands upon Google’s steadfast commitment to open community. That said, we also work very hard internally to identify behavior that doesn’t benefit the community and to take the appropriate actions. We look forward to more and more users getting involved to help us keep Google Maps fresh and accurate.
As you know, mapspam is a difficult problem to tackle – in many ways, more difficult than webspam. Some of these scams go far beyond maps [see this ABC News Story on Locksmith scams]. We take mapspam very seriously and we are working on it, in consultation with our webspam team. While some of the changes we’ve made so far have been less visible, we’re confident that we’re on the right path to effectively reducing mapspam. We think you’ve already recognized that there isn’t an overnight fix.
Please keep the feedback coming, including the direct reports of spam on Maps.
The Google Team
Comment by The Google Team (1 comments) — November 3, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
@Stever
Well its one way to get the word out. I think I would prefer it if Google promoted it on their own.
Mike
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — November 3, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
A significant proportion of small businesses that come to me for a website or search marketing don’t know much about Google Maps and some have not yet claimed their listing. Simply because they don’t know about it.
My actions with clients that come to me are not much of a “getting the word out” but there are many local marketing consultants, like myself, that follow your work Mike and it is a great help for us with guiding our clients through the maze of local search.
Though it would be nice if Google could realize that its fundamentalist views on “open” and ‘wiki”, noble as they may be, just won’t cut it when greed can take advantage, rather easily, of such open systems.
So keep pointing out the holes in Maps and maybe it can help Google get better at addressing them.
Comment by Stever (135 comments) — November 4, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
I’d like to add that claiming your business listing can be surprisingly hard for a large enterprise.
Getting a postcard with the PIN to the right person can be a challenge, especially if the company is set up as a franchise and SEO is being handled from the corporate office. Verifying by phone is little help, since the people working the main line will have no idea what to do with the call.
IMHO the verification process is set up for mom-and-pop shops. It breaks down for larger companies. This is a serious problem.
Comment by Tom D (5 comments) — November 4, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
@Stever-
Yes a community model that doesn’t have a big enough membership, inadequate reviews, incentives to cheat (who will catch me and nothing will happen in they do), does seem to be a formula for disaster, doesn’t it.
@Tom D
The large enterprise tools are non existent. Carter Maslan has, in the past, spoken of solutions to that problem but their sure is nothing yet. Bulk upload is only half the solution (or less). If they can still be hijacked, what good are they?
Mike
Comment by Mike Blumenthal (737 comments) — November 4, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
[...] watchers have been railing against this for ages, most notably Mike Blumenthal, who just last week temporarily hijacked Microsoft’s listing to illustrate the problem, and prompted Danny Sullivan to temporarily hijack Yahoo’s listing [...]
Pingback by Google’s Hypocrisy: Search Spam and Map Spam — November 4, 2008 @ 4:38 pm
[...] Spam on Google Responds to Microsoft HijackingGoogle’s Hypocrisy: Search Spam and Map Spam on Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by me)Mike on Google Maps: Don’t get pregnant in WellsvilleMike Blumenthal on Microsoft’s [...]
Pingback by Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search » Google Maps: New Customer Complaint Arena | Developing Knowledge about Local Search — November 4, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
Checkout microsoft azure on google: http://www.google.nl/search?source=ig&hl=nl&rlz=&q=microsoft+azure&meta=
Comment by Maarten (1 comments) — November 18, 2008 @ 5:15 am
[...] Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by me) – Mike Blumenthal, Understanding Google Maps I don’t think any year-in-review list would be complete without getting into the clusterf–k that Google Maps (and Yahoo Local to a lesser degree) has become with respect to spam and hijacked listings. So many posts to choose from on this matter, but this one shows how irresponsible it is for Google to take a “wiki-like” approach to business listings and let anyone edit listings that are unclaimed. [...]
Pingback by Loci 2008: Matt McGee’s Favorite Articles in Local Search » Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search — December 29, 2008 @ 11:56 am
[...] Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by me) – Mike Blumenthal, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search [...]
Pingback by Loci 2008 - Will Scott’s Best of 2008 in Local » Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search — December 31, 2008 @ 10:19 am
[...] This giant dominates more than regular search. Local Search, although still small, is also dominated by Google and a few local directories. Yahoo Local only exists in the UK and Germany. And MSN Local? Sorry…? You said what? Even the more reason to get your business listed in the Local Business Center right away before it is hijacked. [...]
Pingback by Mihmorandum | Local Search Citations in Continental Europe | Local SEO — January 3, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
[...] Microsoft’s listing in Google Maps Hijacked (oops by me) Mike Blumenthal | 10/30/08 [...]
Pingback by Local Search - All 2009 Nominees » SEMMYS.org — January 19, 2009 @ 1:14 pm
Wow, it’s incredible the power of local search. A lot of my customers have no organic rankings and just local search results and generate large amounts of visits.
Comment by Joel McLaughlin (2 comments) — February 20, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
Interesting article. I am curious about the answer to PanzerMike’s question. Can you edit the listing of another business to reflect the details of your own business and then claim it in the LBC? They would use the current phone number/email in the listing to confirm that you’re the owner and at that point the current information would be your own. Would this be an effective way to hijack a listing? If so, then that significantly increases the necessity for every business owner to claim his listings.
Comment by Pittsburgh Movers (5 comments) — February 20, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
That is very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience in claiming maps
Comment by Lyndon (3 comments) — July 27, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
I have had multiple listings hijacked, and they were listings that I created and claimed. I have some listings that are “half-jacked”, my url shows up, but a competitors phone number. My favorite part is clicking on the history to see all the fun edits they have done to me.
Comment by Tim (5 comments) — August 31, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
What is the latest news on this? Is there an update anywhere? Has Google done anything to rectify the problem of vulnerability for having your unclaimed location hijacked? I am sure that others would like to know.
I am just curious at what level the scammers are using this information, it seems that it could be of use to them in giving out false addresses that look valid in searches.
Comment by Greg W (1 comments) — September 26, 2009 @ 4:10 am
Google did patch this vector although a number of other, more technical ones cropped up and Google is busy patching those as well.
Comment by Mike (1029 comments) — September 26, 2009 @ 8:11 am
[...] was widespread hijacking of florists by an affiliate spammer. Readers of this blog will remember my hijacking of the Microsoft’s listing in October. In that regard, I find Google’s comments, if accurate, somewhat [...]
Pingback by NZ Florist Facing 7 Years for Hijacking Local Listings of Competitors in GMaps | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search — December 11, 2009 @ 12:03 pm