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39 comments…

1. #1 kiwi wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   Great information, I want to research further … what search did you run to find these results?

   Thanks.

2. #2 Stever wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   Nice Find Linda!

   It is kinda looking to me like it might indeed be an agency who’s Google accounts are gonna get slapped, and their clients facing the carnage.

   The use of stock imagery across most of them, how most the ones I looked at all have exactly 2 Google user reviews. Check that user profile and you see most have placed only two reviews, often the 2nd one in another city and state.

3. #3 DaveHallier wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   I looked a a few of these. They all have recent edits changing the business name, address, etc. Apparently the old place is “awaiting removal” and will soon be replaced with the updated info.

4. #4 Kevin Phelps wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   I have a lot of experience with clients looking to improve their Google Places position and this issue is pretty confusing to me. After reviewing about twenty of the listings, it doesn’t appear like they would be violating any of Google Places rules.

   Some similarities and trends that I’m seeing include the use citysearch.com, facebook.com, yellowpages.com and other similar sites, as the provided URL. The stock images are also common across most profiles. Most have plenty of reviews as well.

   Personally, I think this is a marketing firm that is getting rid of these listings for some unknown reason. Maybe it’s a warning to their clients that they haven’t paid?

   I think that because they don’t seem to be breaking any of Google’s rules and if Google did have an issue with a profile, they wouldn’t add “awaiting removal” to the title. That’s not like Google, they’re not ones to warn people, they just do as they please. Another reason why I don’t think it’s Google is because there are several variations in how they state “awaiting removal”. They are adding it to the profiles in a very inconsistent method. Had Google been adding “awaiting removal”, they would all be the same because it would probably be automated, but if you look at a few, some are all capitalized, or all lower-cased and some use dashes or commas.

   Example:

   Garys Roofing LLC – Awaiting Removal
   Silvia’s House Cleaning awaiting removal
   Leana Construction Co AWAITING REMOVAL

   Just my 2 cents

5. #5 Kevin Phelps wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   In addition. there isn’t 3000 Google Places pages with this “awaiting removal” tag in the title. There is actually only roughly 100. When you do a Places search for “awaiting removal” make sure you include the quotes because otherwise it’s pulling in those words that could be in comments or business descriptions, inflating the numbers.

   One more reason why I think it’s a firm, there’s only 100ish.

6. #6 Stever wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   Found it!

   If you search through the lot of them and take note of the ones using a keyword loaded .info domain name, then do a whois search on those domains you see 411 Locals as the owner.

   Some examples;

   autobody-repair-columbus-ga.info
   masonry-san-diego.info
   moversgreenvillesc.info
   autotransmissionrepair-tulsaok.info

   I’ve dealt with those bozos before trying to remove clients Places listings from Google Places accounts the guys at 411 Locals control.

   I also know from past experience they offer the .info websites as an option, probably an upsell.

   In fact dealing with one right now and they are taking their sweet ass time in deleting a listing from their account even though the client is no longer doing business with them – not for a LONG time.

7. #7 Kevin Phelps wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   This has really interested me. I’ve called a few of these people and they’re all telling me that they signed up with a company and the company is threatening to remove the page for non-payment. Some people report the company billing them numerous times though.

   There’s the answer to your question Linda!

8. #8 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   Thanks for weighing in guys. I have a consult right now, so no time to read all your comments, but it sounds like you guys have about nailed it.

   I THOUGHT it seemed like the listings may have all been done by one company.

   HOWEVER assumed Google put the words there because I was in a rush. But makes perfect sense that some shady SEO would do it to their own client listings as a way to try to get payment. Wow.

   Back after my consult to read all this and investigate more. Good job!

9. #9 Stever wrote on May 26, 2011 :

   @Kevin Phelps, nice work on the phone calls to get some more dirt.

   Search that biz name and you see a fair number of rip of reports related to double billing and other crap.

   Because they control clients Places listings within their own accounts, not the biz owner, you are probably right in that it is them intentionally placing the Awaiting Removal to business titles as an extortion tactic.

   Ont the other side of things, when you do expressly cancel their services they wont release the damn listing!

10. #10 Rav Sandhu wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Well now is a good time for these companies to reclaim their listings back. After all they own the number and address, so ultimately hold the listings fate! 2 fingers back at the company threatening to remove the listing

11. #11 Artur | SEO.NeT wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    That could explain things with the Shady SEO. It’s just engouth with Panda

12. #12 Dan Thies wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Descriptions that don’t meet guidelines, I hear. Redundant info, that sort of thing.

13. #13 Ant Cooper wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Wow… What a great thread!

    A great example of sharing information. Good detective work SteveR!

    So far, we’ve not experienced this kind of thing in the UK, but I guess it’s only a matter of time.

14. #14 Kyle Alm wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Google really needs to sort out their business listings. This is just ridiculous, time to start charging for the service too.

15. #15 Jordan Judson wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Another thing that I noticed is a lot of those listings have duplicate “offers”. One had 87 of the exact same “offer”.

16. #16 Darren Shaw wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Woah. This is crazy. Nice detective work Stever. I pity the small businesses that have been duped by 411 Locals. It’s companies like 411 Locals that make us all look bad:
    http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/411-locals-c302483.html
    http://www.ripoffreport.com/internet-services/411locals-com-411-lo/411locals-com-411-locals-411l-a23da.htm

17. #17 Anthony D. Nelson wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    What a terrible way to treat your clients. Even if they happen to be behind on their payment, they aren’t going to stick with you for long if you threaten them like that. Those companies need to take control of their listings and get rid of their SEO/marketing firm.

18. #18 Dan Lyles wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    I’m wondering if these type of companies aren’t about to go belly up? Their tactics are getting shadier by the minute. And of course, this company in particular is not the only company practicing shady tactics. About twice a month, I keep getting some “late payment” invoice for $300 from yellow pages.com. Yeah right! As if I would ever agree to pay that much for a virtually worthless listing!

19. #19 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Wowser, great detective work you guys!

    Got an anonymous tip about lots of the reviews being fake if you dig in and check them out and other problems with this rogue group. G really needs to knock some of these guys out of the biz.

    My Google rep told me they’ve been closing down a lot of shady local SEO players, so hopefully they’ll catch up with these guys too.

    I blogged awhile back about a shady SEO company that held a Place page hostage and extorted 1200 from the biz owner. By the time the guy came to me it was too late. When I logged into the account the SEO had set up I discovered it was in “purgatory” so was a totally useless account that he’d paid to get control of.

    Sorry I need to go do another consult so can’t read all the comments right now. I just can’t wait til tonight to go in and research some of the stuff you guys have dug up. I’ll check back in when I can.

    OH and FYI be sure to check out my most recent post about the HUGE new Google Places “Featured” review format. It’s pretty cool news.

    Thanks again for all the research and comments.
    I appreciate you!

20. #20 Dave Ekrem wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Great detective work! I really enjoyed reading this. Seems like an object lesson about why you should open your own account and give the agency privileges. To the thought that now would be a good time for these businesses to claim their listings, I’ll bet a lot of them haven’t figured out how to do it.

21. #21 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Yep Dave that’s ONE of the sad parts. Most of these companies won’t have a clue they can claim their listing back. And even if they do these guys can still mess them up because these dupes will likely merge so even a new clean Place page could inherit lots of the violations these guys put in their listings.

22. #22 Stever wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Having dealt with a listing they would not remove from their account I can tell you that even if the biz owners tried to claim it themselves, it’s full of problems. For one, if they search their biz name they will find an already claimed and verified listing. Second, if they attempt to build a new one from scratch, and get it verified, next time the agency updates the one they control, their info then takes over again. Third, the new duplicate listing is likely the one that eventually gets suspended by Google. Then there are the fake reviews…..

23. #23 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Ok I’m finally done for the day and trying to read through all the comments.

    But 1st wanted to say sorry to Darren and a couple others. Akismet ate your comments and I just checked that file and found them. so they are approved now.

    Reading everyone’s replies now and have some things to add after I make a couple replies to comments above.

24. #24 Awaiting Removal From Google Places? | Joe Mescher wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    [...] an odd qualifier to local business names called ‘Awaiting Removal’. So it looked like Google might have instituted a ‘penalty state’ against certain business owners. Truth is, this looks to be the work of a scummy SEO provider that [...]

25. #25 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    @kiwi I just searched maps for awaiting removal

    But as Kevin Phelps noted, I didn’t use quotes so my number was way off. There were only about 100. BUT now I’m wondering what else these guys do. They may have other strings of words they’ve tried using to intimidate clients.

    Also Kevin, good catch on the inconsistencies. All the ones I saw were the same. But I just now skipped around and found some with awaiting removal in caps or different formats. And you are right – Google IF they would have done this would have done it algorythmically and each instance would have been the same.

    I was rushed this AM. So like I said just threw it out there really quick for you guys to look at, because I was afraid if “awaiting removal” was some sort of G penalty or bug, by the time I got around to researching, all those listings could be gone.

    Thanks for calling around too. That really helped us get to the bottom of this.

    @Stever, good catch on all. So you’ve run into these guys before? What fun. NOT! Thanks for all your time and feedback about these guys.

    @Darren, thanks for the complain links. I want to go check those out plus I’m going to do a little more detective work on this tonight if I can.

    @all, someone posted about this in the GP forum but got it wrong, so I clarified a little and posted a link to that Maps search results page. So hopefully G will see it and do something about these guys.

    Also Vanessa, the Community Manager at Google Places just left a comment here today in my other post about those big “Featured” reviews. So I’m hoping she saw this post too.

26. #26 Stever wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Google has already taken a big swipe at these kinds of local SEO agencies and we are witnessing some aftermath here. These agencies were only doing maps SEO a la the old 7 pack, where all that was required was a decently worded listing, some citations and a few fake reviews. Especially true in smaller markets and industries with low competition -like many of those we see here. Meanwhile these agencies continue to bill $100 or $200 month after month for doing pretty much nothing.

    Notice how many of those Awaiting Removal listings have no website of their own. None was needed to rank under the old regime. It was that easy.

    Enter the blended organic/local results a few months back and I suspect many of those businesses lost their rankings. Business owners stopped paying because in their eyes 411 Locals was doing nothing for them, and they were right.

    Not covering the organic side of things, which they simply can’t at those low price points, their business model is now imploding. To juice a few more dollars before all is lost they are resorting to these sad extortion tactics.

27. #27 Linda Buquet wrote on May 26, 2011 :

    Yes, I’m sure your observations are true about how their cheap and dirty optimization model is not working as well now due to the new merged algo.

    Maybe that’s why a lot of their client’s Place pages link to InsiderPages, Yahoo and other authority profiles.

    There’s an IM course that was pretty popular teaching people how to rank quick and dirty by linking to an InsiderPages profile instead of the client’s site. (The course mainly taught using Insiderpages but people were of course experimenting with many others too.)

    Then they don’t have to worry about optimizing the client’s site, they just do a slew of low quality backlinks to the InsiderPages listing and supposedly could get quick rankings. Don’t know if that’s what these guys were trying to do, but I just found out these guys hang out at and read the same forum that the course was heavily promoted on.

28. #28 Agency Caught Trying to Blackmail Companies in Places wrote on May 27, 2011 :

    [...] Buquet, a blogger about local and Google Places, yesterday found about a hundred results in Google Places with in the title “Awaiting Removal”. At first it seemed as if they were [...]

29. #29 Own Your Google Places Account - Don't Let It Be Held Hostage wrote on May 27, 2011 :

    [...] stLight.options({publisher:'c3e9c841-4e9b-4c95-87ec-7df590e38227'});emailLinda Buquet at Catalyst eMarketing recently posted a story about hundreds of Google Places listings marked “Awaiting [...]

30. #30 Linda Buquet wrote on May 27, 2011 :

    @Jordon,

    I was just looking at the Place page that has 87 duplicate offers.

    Why in the heck would someone even try that? Just crazy!

31. #31 Linda Buquet wrote on May 30, 2011 :

    Interesting…

    Just searched “awaiting removal” (in quotes this time) and out of the original 113 listings with that warning, only 2 are left. Google contacted me about this a few days ago and said they were looking into it. So I’m not sure if it was Google that changed all the listings or if it was 411 Locals that did it.

    I’m also not sure if just the listing titles were edited to remove the offending warning phrase OR if the Places pages were deleted or if the Places are suspended. Researching that next.

    Here are the 2 that are left. Silvia’s House Cleaning – 2 locations, 1 in San Jose and one in Frisco.

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=EN&q=awaiting+removal&aq=0&sll=36.500000,-95.500000&sspn=23.000000,51.000000&ie=UTF8&rq=1&ev=zi&split=1&start=0&hq=awaiting+removal&hnear=&ll=37.788081,-100.063477&spn=22.336875,50.932617&z=5

32. #32 Stever wrote on May 30, 2011 :

    Linda, if you search the biz names and locations of the 5 in your screen shot above you’ll see most have been removed. Some there is no places/map result at all, a few now have unclaimed listings and one is still claimed but “awaiting removal” text is gone from the name field – but its 4 reviews are now gone too.

    Has 411 made good on their removals, or did Google actually step in?

33. #33 Linda Buquet wrote on May 30, 2011 :

    Current status of ones I just checked from the original screenshot:

    1st Place Moving Company Rogers AR – Place Page GONE!
    (There is another listing with no address in a different town that is using that same .info domain. The Place is claimed, but bare, no reviews or offers like the one in the screen shot.)

    Madame Makeup San Antonio, TX – Place Page GONE!

    Abbra Kadabra Pool Care – Henderson, NV – Place Page GONE!
    (Found an UNCLAIMED listing but it only has 7 reviews. But all the reviews are fake. So not sure what the deal is on this one – maybe just a dupe the fake reviews at some point latched on to?)

    Moving Packing Supply Place – Place Page GONE!

    Drain Clean USA St Louis MO – Place Page GONE!
    (There is another listing, but diff address and zip, unclaimed only 1 review, but appears to be fake.)

    So IF this SEO company just NUKED all these Place pages, which is the way it appears to me – then I think it’s criminal! Those business records and Place pages belong to the business owner NOT the SEO company. Some blame COULD go to the biz owner for hiring such a shady company, however if the SEO company used a good lie-filled pitch, the SMB may not have even known the SEO was using shady tactics.

34. #34 Linda Buquet wrote on May 30, 2011 :

    Thanks Steve, I guess you posted while I was still typing away.

    I assume it was the SEO that deleted these listings. I would HOPE Google would not just delete the Place pages, but would just remove them from the SEO account and return them to unclaimed status.

    But who knows for sure???

35. #35 Jim Rudnick wrote on June 3, 2011 :

    same exact thing up here in Canuckland too, Linda…and yup, same great pix accompany same here for each of same…

    gonna have to dig a bit deeper I think….there’s something “else” up with these….

    ???

    Jim

36. #36 Ewan Kennedy wrote on July 15, 2011 :

    Presents an interesting legal case. I don’t think non payment is a legitimate reason for nuking business assets. Even if the agreed service had been supplied. Your use of the word extortion is probably a good choice Linda.

    Ewan

37. #37 Silverfish wrote on August 17, 2011 :

    That’s really weird. I’m a Google Certified Partner and I’ve never seen stuff like that.

38. #38 Google Places Reputation Management: From G to X Rated in No Time Flat | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search wrote on October 21, 2011 :

    [...] to prevent (or perhaps mitigate) disaster. You never know when a competitor, an ex-employee, an unethical SEO or a prankster might just deface the page. And of course you no have idea when Google, The Machine [...]

39. #39 411Locals In the Spotlight Again | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search wrote on October 25, 2011 :

    [...] May, Linda Buquet reported on what turned out to be apparent sabotage of Places business listings by the local search firm [...]

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