Fake and spam listings aren't rare, and they aren't evenly spread across industries. A peer-reviewed study by Google and UC San Diego researchers found that roughly two out of five fake listings they analyzed were impersonating exactly the trades DHM serves: locksmiths, plumbers, and electricians, often cycling through addresses that don't exist. If a competitor's listing looks fake, wrong address, no real storefront, a name stuffed with keywords, you can report it directly through Google Maps: search for the listing, select "Suggest an edit," choose "Place is closed or not here," then "Offensive, harmful, or misleading," and submit. Google doesn't guarantee a removal or a timeline, but reporting through the correct flow is the only lever you actually have, and it's a real one: Google's own mitigation work has detected and disabled the large majority of fake listings before they even go live.
By the numbers
- Fake contractor listings are the single biggest category of Maps fraud. The peer-reviewed study "Pinning Down Abuse on Google Maps" (Google Research + UC San Diego, presented at the 2017 World Wide Web Conference) found roughly 2 out of 5 fake listings analyzed were impersonating locksmiths, plumbers, and electricians, cycling through non-existent addresses and disposable VoIP phone numbers. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- Some fake listings are hijacked real businesses, not invented ones. The same study found 1 in 10 fake listings belonged to real businesses whose profiles fraudsters falsely claimed, then used to collect referral fees. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- Google's own defenses catch most of it before it's seen. Following the research, Google reported detecting and disabling 85% of fake listings before they ever appear publicly, and reduced abusive listings by 70% from their prior peak. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
- The reporting flow is a specific sequence, not a general complaint form. Google Maps Help documents the path directly: "Suggest an edit," then "Place is closed or not here," then "Offensive, harmful, or misleading." A separate Business Redressal Complaint form exists specifically for misleading names, phone numbers, or website URLs. GOOGLE DOCUMENTED
The signs a listing is actually fake, not just a competitor you dislike
Losing to a real competitor isn't a reportable problem. These signs point to something else.
| What to check | Signs of a fake or spam listing | Signs it's just real competition |
|---|---|---|
| The address | A residential building, empty lot, or an address that doesn't match a real business front | A real office, shop, or shared workspace you can verify |
| The business name | Stuffed with extra keywords, like "24/7 Emergency Plumber Surrey BC Cheap Fast" | A normal, unremarkable business name |
| The phone number | A disposable VoIP number, or the same number appears on several different "businesses" | A single, consistent number tied to one real business |
| The pattern | Several nearly identical listings cover different parts of your service area | One listing, one location, same as any legitimate competitor |
Three real situations, and what actually happens
Google doesn't guarantee removal or give a timeline, and not every report results in action. That doesn't mean reporting was pointless: it's still the only correct channel, and Google's own published mitigation numbers show most fake listings are caught by systems built from exactly this kind of reporting and research.
Report each one individually through the same flow. A pattern of several fake listings from the same source is exactly the "cycling through non-existent addresses" behavior the Google/UCSD study documented, and it's worth documenting with screenshots before you report, in case you need to follow up.
This is a different problem: someone claimed ownership of your real listing. That's covered separately in our suspension and reinstatement guide, since recovering a hijacked profile uses Google's ownership-dispute process, not the fake-listing report flow.
How to report it, step by step
- Open Google Maps and search for the suspicious listing directly, not through a regular search result.
- Select "Suggest an edit" on the listing.
- Choose "Place is closed or not here," then select "Offensive, harmful, or misleading."
- Submit, and keep a screenshot of the listing before it's removed, in case you need to reference it again.
- For a misleading name, phone number, or website specifically, Google's Business Redressal Complaint form is the documented alternate path.
Questions we get
Frequently asked questions
How common are fake business listings on Google Maps?
A peer-reviewed Google/UC San Diego study analyzed over 100,000 fraudulent listings and found local searches leading to a fake listing were uncommon overall, but fake listings were heavily concentrated in certain trades, with roughly 2 in 5 fake listings analyzed impersonating locksmiths, plumbers, and electricians specifically.
What's the actual process to report a fake listing?
Search for the listing on Google Maps, select "Suggest an edit," choose "Place is closed or not here," then "Offensive, harmful, or misleading," and submit. A separate Business Redressal Complaint form exists for misleading names, phone numbers, or website URLs specifically.
Will Google actually remove the listing if I report it?
Not guaranteed, and Google doesn't publish a timeline. What is documented is that Google's mitigation systems, built partly from this kind of research and reporting, now detect and disable the large majority of fake listings before they're ever publicly visible.
What if my own real listing gets hijacked instead?
That's a different problem than a fake competitor listing, and it uses Google's ownership-dispute process. It's covered in our suspension guide rather than this one.
Sources
- Google Research, Keeping fake listings off Google Maps, summarizing "Pinning Down Abuse on Google Maps" (Google Research & UC San Diego, WWW 2017): fraud pattern breakdown and mitigation results.
- Google Maps Help, Report a business on Google Maps: the exact reporting flow and category options.
- Full detail on recovering a hijacked or suspended profile on our suspension guide.
The 2 in 5 and 1 in 10 figures describe the sample analyzed in the cited study, not a universal rate across all industries or the current state of Maps. Google has not published an updated breakdown since the mitigation work described here.