Google scales up efforts against scammers targeting SMBs
As communication networks become more sophisticated so to do the scams and frauds that prey on the vulnerable, many of whom are ignorant to the threat they pose. There are plenty of scammers that claim to be Google employees and they like to target small to medium business owners who may not have a sophisticated way of detecting unscrupulous agents.
Photo: Free-Photos, Pixabay
These scammers will often make claims that they have the power to hurt a business’ search engine results page (SERP) rankings as well as making claims they can drastically improve said rankings if you do as they say. Many scammers will actually attempt to charge people for services that are already made free by Google.
Google has taken on several initiatives in the past to crack down on and if possible prosecute these fraudsters. It appears that Google is now sharpening its teeth against scammers with a list of new initiatives.
Google is now planning to take legal action against a range of entities it has deemed as scammers. In addition to this they are now able to identify scam accounts and remove them more easily.
The company has also created a new tool that business owners can use to quickly report scams as well as providing a carefully selected directory of trusted Google partners.
In a blog post, Google made the following points:
- They are taking legal action against several entities identified as scammers
- They are developing and employing new manual and automated systems to better detect accounts that are affiliated with scammers
- They have launched a new tool that lets businesses report policy violations and ‘scammy’ practices
- They are providing educational resources to small businesses
- They are launching the Google My Business (GMB) Partners program that includes a directory of trusted Google partners
The new partner directory should prove especially helpful to small businesses looking to expand with SEM but are unsure of who they can trust. Litigation is also very important in flushing out big scammers and deterring other firms from attempting to scam small to medium businesses.
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