Category: Google Places

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Google Places – Don’t Steal An Account

This blog post is especially pointed to consultants or agents who share the same office. Did you know that only one person in your office can own the Google Places account tied to your physical location, and that person really should be the corporation not an individual agent? Here’s an example, let’s say you are a real estate company, did you know that the first agent who claims your Google Places account tied to the office address, will own it? That means no other agent in the office can create a Google Places account using that address even with a different suite number and for that matter neither can you the legitimate business owner.

If an agent has tagged your Google Places account, you the real owner, cannot claim it and other agents in the office are at a real disadvantage due to the agent who has grabbed it who will then not share potential leads. You as the legitimate business owner do have the right to ask the agent to relinquish ownership of the Google Places account so you as the corporation can then claim it and then share leads throughout the entire office.

To do this the agent simply needs to go into their Google Places account click edit and then click delete this places account with the selection that this account has been linked to you in error. The main office can then claim the account rightfully.

If you are an agent who has claimed the office account be aware that if you are paying a service for Google Places services you will lose your money that you have invested as the account was never really rightfully yours to claim. You may benefit from its use initially, but if asked you WILL have to relinquish access. So just be careful and take this as a word to the wise.

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Google is Picking Up Facebook Reviews

I wanted to give you an update from my blog post this past week on what is happening with Google indexing reviews on Facebook. Today, I found one of my test pages in the Google.com search results but not the other.

In just a few days I have found that Google has picked up the page with my hreview HTML tags hand coded and inserted into an FBML page, but not the page that has Facebook reader reviews. Although this may not be a definitive answer yet, as it is still pretty early in the test, the results are interesting.

I’ll keep you posted on my results as I do further testing. In the meantime if you want to read the full blog post and be a part of my test check out this blog.

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More on Fake Google Places Reviews – Be Careful

It is illegal to create fake reviews for your business online according to the FTC guidelines released in November 2009, but it is happening big time on Google Hotpot and Google Places. Don’t be caught by being ignorant of the tactics that scummy firms are using that may get you in trouble.

Here are just three “fake” reviews that I found on one  Google Places page. Boy do they look contrived and created by an SEO firm for placement due to the use of keywords, repetition, and bolding.

[Name removed] knows all the tricks I was side swiped by a car in [bolded City Removed] and I did not have health insurance at the time. I called [Name removed] and he told me that my medical bills would be paid by my own car insurance policy. I was shocked to hear that my own auto insurance pays my medical bills, even when I was not driving and my car was not involved in the accident. He knows all the tricks of the trade!

[Name removed] is truly super! When my Dad was fired from his job, we suspected it was because of his age. I knew I needed to call [Name removed]. I wanted the best. I knew [Name removed] had been selected by [bolded City Removed] Magazine as a “Super Lawyer” and has been on TV multiple times. My Dad was thrilled with [Name removed] at the initial hearing with the [State Name Removed] Human Relations Commission. My Dad settled his case and ended up with a nice size check to add to his retirement. [Name removed] is truly super!

[Name removed] tripled my settlement I was involved in an accident in which I injured my hand. Since I was not working, I was worried I would not receive much in compensation. The insurance company offered me a settlement, but I was not sure if I should take it. I wanted an attorney I could trust. I called [Name removed] and he handled everything. I received a settlement that was more than triple what I was offered by the insurance company. Boy, I am glad I called [Name removed]…she tripled my settlement.

What do you think? Sure looks like the same reviewer writing these to me. The page I reviewed had five more just like this. When I see bolding, use of keywords and repetition in a review, the review is flagged for me as a violation of Google’s own spam policy and a possible violation of FTC regulations.

As a business owner you need to be aware of what tactics SEO and Google Places services firms will use to promote your business. Don’t be caught in a FTC violation in a possibly illegal or questionable effort to garner top Google Places placement.

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It is False Advertising To Create Fake Reviews for Google Places

You may not have realized this, but it is illegal to create fake reviews and testimonials about your products, services, or business on Google Places, Google Hotpot, your blog, your website, and even on Amazon.com. As a business owner you should know that there are some serious penalties that can be assessed if you are doing this or even  unknowingly in this.

How so? In November 2009 the FTC, that is the Federal Trade Commission, released advertising guidelines that impact all advertising efforts even including the Web and blogging. In a nutshell the rules state that you can not write as if you have used a product or service when you have not. If you are paid to write a piece about a product you must have used it and you must state in your piece that you are paid to write the piece. You can read all the gory details and gobbledy gook the feds write to spell out a concept from the FTC website.

The bottom line is this, in the FTC’s own words for bloggers and online publishers:

  • Endorsements must be truthful and not misleading.
  • If the advertiser doesn’t have proof that the endorser’s experience represents what consumers will achieve by using the product, the ad must clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected results in the depicted circumstances, and
  • If there’s a connection between the endorser and the marketer of the product that would affect how people evaluate the endorsement, it should be disclosed.

There are penalties spelled out for violations and the FTC makes it easy to report a violation with their online complaint site.

The reason for my blog post today is however to mention that creating fake reviews on Google Hotpot and other online review services would also fall into the category as false advertising and could get you and your business in a pickle with the FTC.

I mention this as there are several Google Places firms, based overseas, that are promoting such illegal reviews as part of their business packages. You as a business owner need to know that these review placement and review writing services are illegal and could get YOU in trouble.