Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Compendium of Banned Words in Google Places – Terms Not Allowed By The Nanny Bot
Google Places has a word filter in place that prevents the use of certain terms and phrases in a listing. It is a particularly “nasty” filter as it doesn’t allow the record to be verified and offers no way of working around the ban other than removing the “offending” word. Even hospitals get swept up in its reach. If you are a Sex Therapist (XXX Therapist?) it becomes kind of awkward but what are you supposed to do if you live on Pine Street or your last name is Martini?
Begging in the forums in the hopes that a Googler will lift the flag is the only way to have this particular penalty removed . I, in a fit of ecentricty, started catologing these banned words. Now in an effort to provide the transparency that Google lacks I am sharing my secret list of naughty words with the world.
In September, Danny Sullivan wrote a post on the The Five Words You Can Never Suggest On Google Instant. Places, not happy with 5 is going for broke… here is my list of 25 31 37 55 banned Places words from the past 4 or 5 months that I have cataloged. I am sure that there are many, many more, so feel free to add to the list:
Adolf (you remember, that pesky fellow Adolf…also a very common German street name)
Bang as in Bang Software
Cummer (as in the Village of Cummer)
Fan as in Fan Base
Fanny as in Fanny St, Cardiff
Fantasy as in China’s Food and Fantasy
Fountain as in Fountain Civil Engineering
Konak (Konak?)
Pikk (apparently refers to the male genitalia in Norwegian but is a common street name in Estonia… who knew?)
Pill as in the Village of Pill
Pine (What don’t I know about the word Pine?)
Prick as in Prick U Body Works
Sex as in Sex Therapy
Venus as in Venus Hotel
Any use of 4 or more capital letters in a row
The other day I received this email from a German TC in the Places forum that demonstrates that Google has scaled this “solution” worldwide with equally odd results:
In German the verb “to tickle” (kitzeln) which is a very normal and “good” verb as well in German as in English I’m believing so.
In German a person who is tickling an other person is a “Kitzler”. Unfortunately in some parts of Germany & Austria there are many family names like “Kitzler”.
Now the joke:
Google’s translating systems knows “Kitzler” obviously only as “clitoris” – banning therefore the German word “Kitzler” from GooglePlace entries. Therefore a Austrian vinary “Hans Kitzler” can’t get onto GoogleMaps. Here his thread at our forum
Best
Helmut
I wonder if they ban the word beer in Germany? That would be reason for an international conflagration, no?
Definition Update: This just in from @sammurray: I just found out but I wish I never. My poor eyes. This should come with a warning alert :0) http://bit.ly/geZnOO
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Comments
57 Comments
the word “bites” gets rejected for swizzerland – this sems to be the reason: http://translate.google.com/#fr/en/bites
the term “jur” get rejected as not permitted for any entries in the Ukraine
I read 4 or more caps in a row. the name of my business is T.T.S. Tire & Auto. is this going to be a problem?
“Bitte” (= “please”) gets rejected for entries in Swizzerland.
But only for that country!
see more here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/business/need-advice/FiKAZ5YJjGY
So we have a new case of unseasonable “country specific rejection of terms”
i of course meant “unreasonable” not “unseasonable”
Why is “locksmith” not allowed?
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