Google has had enough when it comes to the Google My Business scammers. They’re taking legal action against Kydia Inc. d/b/a BeyondMenu, Point Break Media, LLC (and affiliated entities), and Supreme Marketing Group, Inc. d/b/a Small Business Solutions. There have a been a lot of complaints that businesses get calls from these scammers, claiming to be Google or Google representatives, threatening that their Google listing will be removed or taken down if they don’t pay a fee.
I have gotten a few of these calls, which tend to be robocalls or automated calls, and I usually just hang up and block the phone number. I don’t get a lot of these, but some have said that they get them day after day after day.
Now Google has announced that they are taking action, and will not hesitate to sue.
There also is a new scam reporting tool, as well. If you have received a call from someone claiming that they are with Google, then ask them to send an email to you first–they should be able to send an email to you with a @google.com email address.
Get as much information as you can from the caller, and the company that they are with. Then, if you feel the need, you should use the Google scam reporting tool to report the scammer to Google.
There are several things that Google would like you tell them about, and report. These are all violations of Google’s Google My Business Third Party Policy:
- Third party that is repeatedly calling or making robocalls
- Third party claimed your Google My Business listing without your consent or by extorting consent from you
- Third party is misrepresenting its relationship with Google (e.g. they claim to be Google employees or to have an official partnership with Google)
- Third party claims it can guarantee top placement in Google Search or Maps
- Third party is demanding money to either get your business listed or continue to stay listed on Google (Note:
- Third parties are permitted to charge for maintenance services, but Google My Business is a free product and does not require a fee to list your business )
- Third Party engages in deceptive or harassing marketing and sales practices (e.g. threats of degrading business’s search ranking)
- Third party is not being transparent with clients (e.g. not disclosing management fees, failing to provide aggregated Google My Business performance data)
- Third party is representing your business’s information inaccurately on Google Maps
Google is currently suing Kydia Inc. d/b/a BeyondMenu, Point Break Media, LLC (and affiliated entities), and Supreme Marketing Group, Inc. d/b/a Small Business Solutions because of their predatory business practices related to Google’s products and services. If you’ve been contacted by one of these companies or any other companies that are demanding money or threatening to hurt or harm your listing on Google, you should file a policy violation.