Google has filed a lawsuit to deter scammers from using Google Maps and business profiles to post fake businesses and fake reviews. Google said “Bad actors posted over 350 fraudulent business profiles and attempted to bolster them with over 14,000 fake reviews.
The suit You can find the court document over here which details the details of the lawsuit that Google filed. The defendants named in the lawsuit are defendants Ethan QiQi Hu; GMBEye; Rafadigital, LLC (“Rafadigital”); and makes 1-20.
Google said the goal of the lawsuit is to stop the “complex and deceptive scheme to deceive consumers, business owners, and Google by illegally manipulating the listing services of Google’s industry-leading companies.”
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“Over the past two years, the defendants, led primarily by one individual, Ethan Qiqi Hu, have abused Google products to create fake online listings for businesses that don’t exist and to bolster them with fake reviews from people who they don’t exist. Defendants sell these listings, and the confused consumer queries they attract, to individuals and entities seeking to promote their businesses on Google’s platforms. Defendants also mislead these small business owners by making unsubstantiated claims and impossible regarding their ability to ensure a favorable position in Google search results and implying preferential treatment or access with respect to certain Google processes”.
There are many details, including screenshots and the alleged methods used by the defendants in the court document.
Google has done this before. Google has done a number of things in the past to try to stop this kind of fraud, including filing lawsuits. Not only with local, but also with web search.
Why we care Will this lawsuit scare those scammers who haven’t been sued by Google yet and encourage them to stop their practices? Will this lawsuit lead to less spam and scams on Google Maps and Google Local? Time will tell, but it’s good that Google is making efforts, beyond removing spam and fake profiles, to target those spam efforts.
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