Locksmith Spam: Caught In The Act!
Monday 11 Oct 2010
Talk about being caught red handed! In a Google Places Help Forum thread, user SQLPerformance asks, is this where locksmith spam comes from? The link points to this job offer on elance.com:
Hello,
I’m looking for an expert who can promote my Local Locksmith/garage doors business in google maps, yahoo local and bing.
You will need to be able to post me multiple times in the cities I’m in include in the same city.
You will need to be able to place me first for each city as well for the right keywords.
You will have to be able to write for me 100′s of reviews for each listing.
And anything you can to make this listing dominent the city…
an experience with promoting a Locksmith business it’s a bonus…
Please make sure you can do the job( Creating a Locksmith listing) before you contact me.
Thank you
And, thank you, Mr. Spamming Locksmith, for showing us all a blueprint of how you go about polluting local businesses indexes with your multiple listings and hundreds of phony reviews! And, for enabling people to contact you about your job offer. I hereby invite all my chums in Local Search to contact this company and make them an offer they can’t refuse.
Seriously, now, what do you make of this? A totally misguided but well-meaning business owner who is trying to learn the ropes in Maps and has mistakenly understood that this is how to proceed because so many other people are doing it, or a dyed-in-the-wool crook who feels no compunction about hiring help to spam Google? Things remain so loony in the locksmith business, it’s hard to say. When one juxtapositions this with other threads in the Places Forum in which legit locksmiths are clamoring to have flags removed from their listings, you certainly have a funny picture of the state of Local.
Meanwhile, I wonder if Elance has any rules governing compliance with FTC laws concerning False Testimonial Endorsements. Is it legal to post a job description that requires the employee to break the law? Is there a lawyer in the house?
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Photo Credit: Amarand Agasi
5 comments Monday 11 Oct 2010 | admin | Local SEO
Good find Miriam. Maybe you should set up a sting.
Haha. Now there’s an idea, Mike.
It really is amazing the stuff that’s being reported in the Placed Forum. It reads like a Greek Tragedy and a Comedy of Errors all at the same time.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tremendous discovery. Have you or Mike R applied for the job yet?
I noticed above that a Google employee saw another post of yours. You should get it in front of them.
Hi Dave,
Nope, I didn’t apply for the ‘job’. But wouldn’t you love to know who did?
Ah, the spam goes on.
Thanks for stopping by!
Great catch! is it possible that the one that requested these “great services” is so unaware for what is the ‘real world’ in Google Maps as he see only the ‘Locksmith twilight zone’? poor thing..