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Google's Incompetence: Hell for Legit Locksmiths, Great for Locksmith Scams

Last Updated: May 20, 2016

There’s an ongoing, nation-wide locksmith scam that no one seems able to stop—not even the “almighty” Google. Perhaps you’ve heard of this scam already. After all, it’s been a frequent topic for local news outlets in large and midsize cities spanning every corner of the country.

A Brief Summary of the Scam

The scam goes something like this:

  1. You lock yourself out of your car or house late at night.
  2. In a panic, you google emergency locksmiths nearby and call the first one you find.
  3. The person who answers your call gives you a price quote (anywhere from $20 to $90).
  4. A locksmith shows up and tells you the job will be more complicated than they thought. The price is now double what you were quoted.
  5. You agree to the higher price because it’s late, you’re tired, and you have no other options.
  6. The locksmith successfully opens your car or house door (sometimes even drilling into the lock, thus requiring the installation of a new one), but now tells you the price is even higher. He demands payment in cash.
  7. Since he has your keys, you’re not in a position to argue.
  8. You begrudgingly accept the final price because you feel like you’re out of options, even though you know you’re being ripped off.

As this New York Times article from January 2016 explains, these scams are carried out by call centers all across the country. They operate by manipulating Google Maps listings and paying large sums of money to advertise with AdWords. This allows them to capture the attention of panicked, locked-out locals and dispatch unqualified subcontractors to their locations. And that’s when they get you.
It’s one of the most successful get-rich-quick schemes out there.

Google Is Not Doing Enough

Unfortunately, Google has been enabling these scams, intentionally or not. Google has established extra precautions when it comes to verifying the legitimacy of locksmith listings, but these measures have only made it more difficult for honest locksmiths. Meanwhile, the shady locksmith companies run rampant, finding loopholes simply by using AdWords.
Given the wide reach of the scams, Google treats locksmith companies with suspicion right out of the gate. Locksmith listings are under constant scrutiny, as Google monitors them closely for any spam-like behavior or other red flags. There’s even a special, involved process when verifying new or updated listings.
The extra review makes life more difficult for legitimate locksmiths, but it would be worth the trouble if it actually did anything to reduce the frequency of scams. Unfortunately, it hasn’t had this effect. Not even close.
As long as shady locksmiths are able to advertise with Google AdWords, post photos of fake storefronts, and weasel their way to the top of local search results, the scams will continue.
Of course, it’s impossible for Google to identify scams with 100% accuracy. However, it’s Google. It has more resources, manpower, and control than any of us can even imagine. How is it possible that it hasn’t implemented more effective safeguards against locksmith scams?
Here’s how Prospect Genius thinks Google should be handling this problem:

  • Post a general warning about the scam on all locksmith listings, including red flags to watch out for, so customers are on high alert.
  • Require all locksmiths to display certain credentials (e.g. business license, membership with the Associated Locksmiths of America).
  • Use existing technology to warn customers when they’re calling a number on a VoIP line (which is what many of these scam artists use).
  • Leverage Google Pay to mandate pre-payment for emergency locksmith services so the customer doesn’t get ripped off at the last minute.
  • Verify addresses and storefronts for locksmiths by driving to their physical locations in the Street View Car.

It’s baffling that a small team like Prospect Genius can come up with more productive solutions than Google can.

It’s Up to You

Obviously, we can’t count on Google to make significant changes any time soon. For now, it’s up to honest locksmiths to educate your communities.

  • Spread the word about this scam.
  • Band together with nearby locksmiths and inform your customers about realistic price points.
  • Add a price list to your website.
  • Share news stories about the scam on social media.
  • If you know a specific company in your area is scamming people, call them out!

We can’t single-handedly stop these locksmith scams, but if we spread as much information as possible, we can at least reduce the number of victims.
Here are some news stories to get you started:

Why Do Rewarding SEO Campaigns Demand Your Patience?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Wouldn’t SEO campaigns be so much easier if you could just flip a switch and watch them go? Alas, the Internet simply doesn’t work that way.
Launching an online marketing campaign takes a lot of time. To ensure extended success, Prospect Genius—and many standup companies like us—must run through an exhaustive, time-consuming process when setting up any new campaign.
If you’ve been asking yourself why your Core campaign took so long to get off the ground, then this blog post is for you. Here, you’ll get a thorough explanation of all the work Prospect Genius typically does when launching a Core campaign. You’ll also find out why this process is worth the wait.
Let’s jump in!

How We Create a Campaign

As soon as a new client accepts our terms of service, we pull the lever and get the ball rolling on your campaign. Each step leads to another, and they must be completed in the right order. We cannot skip ahead. Remember the game Mouse Trap? It’s kind of like that.
Here’s what the process looks like from beginning to end. By the time you get to the bottom of this list, you’ll understand how much work goes into getting a campaign off the ground:

  1. Basic background check. Before beginning any work, we investigate what kind of information and listings are already out there for your company. This will inform us on how to proceed.
  2. Address check. We need to ensure you can receive mail at the address you gave us. This is how Google verifies your business’s location. If you can’t receive mail there, we must figure out a legitimate workaround before we can continue.
  3. Call forwarding setup. We order your call forwarding number, a.k.a. your CallTrax™ number, which allows us to track your incoming leads for you. Once we receive this number from our provider, we set up call forwarding and add it to our system.
  4. Photo collection. We gather photos of your business found during our background check or submitted by you. We save these photos in a collection so we can use them when we build your LeadTrax™ site. If you don’t have any photos, we will find relevant stock photos for you.
  5. Review collection. We search the Internet for reviews of your business. We record and save all of the positive reviews so we can display them on your LeadTrax site.
  6. Google Maps setup. We find out whether you have an existing Google Maps listing. If you do, then we try to gain access to it by having you name us manager or by submitting a claim to Google.

And that’s just the initial setup! Now, your campaign moves on to the writing and assembly stage.

  1. Keyword research. We do research to discover the most appropriate keywords for your site. This enables us to formulate the best approach for on-page SEO.
  2. Fresh content creation. We write all of the copy for your LeadTrax site from scratch. No content is duplicated for new clients. You get totally unique content for your site.
  3. Error proofing. Writing content from scratch means it has to be meticulously combed over for mistakes. We double- and triple-check your content to certify its accuracy.
  4. Site building. Once your content has been crafted and carefully edited, we design and build your site based on our templates. Our templates leave plenty of room for customization, though, so it’s never a one-size-fits-all scenario.
  5. Quality control. Before we launch your site, we check it one more time to make sure it looks great and represents your business accurately and positively.
  6. Resource setup. After your LeadTrax site has been launched, we create Bing and Google accounts so we can set up Webmaster tools and resources for your campaign.
  7. Social media setup. We also create social media pages for your business on Facebook, Twitter, About.me, and Foursquare.

This covers the first several weeks of your campaign. Then we move on to the trickiest part:

  1. Online promotion. Over the next 60 days, we create and/or claim a series of online listings using the most up-to-date information about your business. However, this process is performed in multiple stages, spread out over weeks. (Find out why below.) The efficiency of this process is partially dictated by your cooperation in claiming and verifying listings.

Once this phase is complete, you’ve reached the end of what we call your “ramp-up period.” It usually takes about 90 days, or three months, to get here.

Why Does It Have to Be Done This Way?

We aren’t the only ones who take our time establishing a campaign. Any reputable Internet marketer knows a campaign can’t be launched overnight. Building the foundation for a long-lasting presence takes weeks and weeks and weeks of meticulous, strategic work.
Why do we thoroughly examine your company’s web presence before we even begin? Because we need to correct any past missteps and start your campaign on a solid footing. Otherwise, the actions of your campaign may contradict existing information and inadvertently work against you.
Why do we write all of your site content from scratch? Because we understand that your business is unique, and your content should represent you. Plus, copying content from other campaigns is a surefire way to get penalized by Google. Duplicate content is a huge no-no any way you look at it.
Why do we perform your online promotion in multiple stages? Because creating or updating all of your listings at once will lead Google to mark them as spam. We strategically spread out the creation of your listings week by week so your growing presence appears more organic. This nurtures your site’s rankings without risking penalties from Google.
In other words, we take our time because that’s the only way to do online advertising right.

How Come Other Companies Get It Done Faster?

It’s true—some companies can get your campaign up and running in a week. And after reading all about our setup process, you have to ask yourself, How is that possible?
There’s no simple answer to this, but it boils down to the fact that it’s easier to take shortcuts. Many Internet marketing companies sacrifice long-term presence for quick results. They set up your campaign as fast as they can, and then they forget about it.
But here’s the thing: You only get a super-fast turnaround when your web history hasn’t been thoroughly examined, when your content has been copied and pasted, when your business is promoted like spam, when your campaign is just another carbon copy.
So if an online advertising company is promising you unbelievable success within mere weeks, it’s because they’re cutting corners. Don’t take the bait.

A banner we proudly display in our office.
A banner we proudly display in our office.

Reminder: Traditional SEO Is as Influential as Ever

Last Updated: April 21, 2016

With the growing emphasis on local rankings in Google Maps, it’s easy for business owners to forget about the significance of traditional SEO and organic search rankings.
Thankfully, a recent article by Christopher Ratcliff reminds business owners of the enduring importance of organic SEO—especially as it relates to local rankings. The article discusses how Google revealed the top factors in local ranking. And, as it turns out, organic search ranking is one of those factors.
In addition to geographic proximity, topical relevance, and customer reviews, “prominence” is a factor that influences where a business ranks on Google Maps. According to Google’s own explanation (which is linked to in Ratcliff’s article), “prominence” has multiple meanings. In some circumstances, prominence is dictated by real-world popularity; thus, well known establishments like museums, departments stores, and places of worship will appear high in local search rankings. In other circumstances, prominence refers to the amount of information Google is able to collect about a local business. Therefore, lots of articles, links, and directory listings will lead to higher local search rankings.
And then Google comes right out and says this:

Your position in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices also apply to local search optimization.

That’s right: Your organic rankings directly impact your local rankings.
This should clear up any misconception that Google Maps and mobile search have rendered traditional SEO obsolete. Moreover, online marketing companies like Prospect Genius and countless others specialize in making organic and local work together for optimal results.

What You Don't Know About Directory Listings Can Hurt You

Last Updated: April 13, 2016

How much do you know about your small business’s directory listings?
Our guess: Not nearly as much as you should.
They may seem negligible compared to the overwhelming, day-to-day demands of running a business; however, if you don’t stay on top of them, your directory listings could wind up being populated with incorrect information about your company. In turn, this will have far-reaching, negative effects on your web presence.
Whether you’ve worked with an SEO provider in the past or your web presence is more of a DIY effort, it’s up to you, the business owner, to have at least a general idea of where and how you’re listed online.
In this post, you’ll discover:

  • Popular directories where your business might be listed
  • What to look for when you check your listings
  • Why it’s critical for you to keep your listings accurate

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Know Where Your Business Is Listed

To get started, search for your company on some of the more popular business directories. These include Google Maps, Bing Local, Yelp, Manta, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and Angie’s List. Start with these and, if you’re feeling motivated, you can move on to a more thorough Google (or Bing) search for the rest of your listings.
However, bear in mind that tracking down every site where your company is listed can be a tedious, time-consuming project. It requires several hours of sifting through page after page of search engine results. Unfortunately, most small business owners simply don’t have the time or energy to do this themselves.
So if you currently work with an SEO provider, reach out to them and ask if they offer any tools or resources to uncover all of the directories that list your business. If you aren’t currently working with an SEO provider or your provider doesn’t offer this type of service, call Prospect Genius! We can conduct a WebFax® report that will tell you everything you need to know.

Know How Your Business Is Listed

Knowing where you’re listed is the first step. Next comes evaluating the accuracy of those listings.
Remember, it may not be your fault if some of the information is wrong. Incorrect listings can result from a number of different variables. But regardless of whether errors were caused by a careless marketer you worked with in the past or a directory bot that pulled only partial information from another listing, it’s your responsibility to be aware of them.
If you discover any errors, fix them right away (or contact whoever controls your listings so they can fix the errors for you). Here’s what you should be looking for.

Is Your Contact Info Correct?

First, verify that all of the following information is filled out. Then, check it for typos and other errors:

  • Phone number
  • Street address
  • Company name
  • E-mail address
  • Website URL

Prospective customers won’t be able to contact you if your information is wrong, so it’s vital you fix these errors ASAP.
Understand the dangers of conflicting information by reading our blog post, “One Simple Way to Take Control of Your Online Presence.”

Are You Listed in the Correct Categories?

Next, take a look at the category (or categories) your business is listed under. These categories should accurately describe the selection of products and/or services your business offers.
Even if you think your categories are probably correct because an SEO professional handled your directory listings for you, check anyway. We see a lot of cases where a business’s web presence is floundering, only to discover that a previous SEO provider had listed them in the wrong categories. Sometimes, they left out a category due to human error; other times, the provider got overzealous and named too many categories that were mostly irrelevant.
No matter what caused the initial problem, you need to make sure you’re ultimately listed under the correct categories. This is a crucial aspect of your web presence, as it may determine who actually sees your listings. If you’re not listed under the right categories, you could be missing out on people who are searching for your services.

Is Your Service Info Up to Date?

Finally, for the same reasons explained above, it’s imperative that you keep your business’s service information up to date on all of your listings. It’s not uncommon for businesses to grow, change, and expand over the years. If your services and/or products have changed recently, make sure your web presence reflects that.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

When it comes to your business’s directory listings, there’s no such thing as remaining “blissfully” unaware.
Like everything else in business—and in life—you can’t help yourself by keeping your hands over your eyes. If there are problems with your listings, they exist whether you’re aware of them or not. It’s better to be aware. When you’re aware of problems, you can fix them. Otherwise, they’ll just quietly wreak havoc on your web presence.
Armed with the information in this post, you can now go forth and make sure your business’s directory listings are working with you, not against you.

Changes to Google+ Local That YOU Should Know About

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Surprise, surprise: Google is revising its local search policies again. At Prospect Genius, it’s our responsibility to stay on top of these ever-changing policies and how they could potentially impact you, our valued clients.
As Google adapts their policies, we must adapt ours to ensure the ongoing success of your business’s lead generation program. Fortunately, we haven’t had to make many changes on our end this time, but there are certain things that you and we will have to do a bit differently in order to accommodate Google’s demands.
Below, we’ve outlined the latest policy changes as they stand at the time of this writing. We’ve also included the ways in which they could affect your business and our suggestions for how to deal with them.

New Policy: Google Gives You 30 Days to Submit Your PIN

In an attempt to crack down on fake addresses and businesses, Google+ Local mails a postcard (or, on rare occasions, calls you directly) with a PIN to your physical location as soon as you attempt to create a new listing or claim an existing one. They require you to submit that PIN on Google+ Local as a means of verifying that the address exists and that you live or work there. Your PIN is set to expire in 30 days as a way of preventing spam and fraud.

How Will It Affect You?

Because Prospect Genius is in charge of maintaining your company’s Google+ Local listing, you need to provide us with your PIN as soon as you receive it. The timeframe used to be much more flexible, but now that Google is getting strict, they’ve instituted a concrete limit on how long you can take. Now, you only have 30 days to call Prospect Genius with your PIN so that we can verify your listing. If you don’t get it to us in time, your listing could be suspended indefinitely.
Bottom line: Call Prospect Genius as soon as you receive your Google PIN!

New Policy: Google+ Local Will Call Your Business Directly

This is the most important policy to keep in mind. Google+ Local has begun calling business owners directly in order to confirm whether the business is actually where it’s supposed to be. When Google representatives call businesses, they ask difficult questions about the company location that are meant to trip up the individual who answered the phone. Ultimately, Google’s aim is to catch fraudulent business owners in their lies and take down their listings.

How Will It Affect You?

With this policy, you’ll need to be on your toes. You might think you don’t have anything to worry about, given the fact that you’re being honest about your business, but that’s not necessarily true. The Google representative on the phone will ask you specific questions about your location (e.g. What’s the nearest intersection? Is there a CVS nearby? Are you close to I-95?). Any hesitations or inaccuracies in your answers could lead Google to become suspicious and flag your listing.
When navigating any interaction with Google, it helps to think of them as the judge, jury, and executioner. They have sole discretion when assessing the quality of a website or business listing’s content, and they have the final say in what ultimately makes it (or stays) on their results pages. In this way, Google is very much like the federal government of local search. This means that you don’t have to incriminate yourself—instead, you can “plead the fifth” and remain silent, at least temporarily. Rather than answering their questions right away and inadvertently incriminating yourself, you can postpone talking to them until you’ve sought counsel with Prospect Genius, your “defense lawyer,” if you will. Simply tell the Google representative to call you back in a couple of hours (for any reason you like), and then call your Prospect Genius campaign coordinator right away. We’ll walk you through the questions that they’re most likely to ask you and help you prepare the correct responses. Then, when Google calls you back, you’ll be able to answer their questions with honesty, accuracy, and confidence.
Some of you may have already received a phone call from Google. Hopefully it went well. For the rest of you who have not yet had the pleasure of being grilled by a Google+ Local representative, we’ve included snippets of real phone calls that our clients have received. The below audio clips from real conversations should give you an idea of what to expect.

Click to Listen
This first conversation is relatively straightforward: the Google rep asks for the address of the company’s main office and then for the website. Pay attention around the one-minute mark, when the business owner pauses to take out his Prospect Genius wallet card and read off the URL of his website.

Click to Listen
In the above clip, a business owner is rightfully suspicious of a Google rep who fails to verify his identity. Ultimately, the conversation is anticlimactic: when the business owner refuses to divulge personal information, the call ends. It’s important to remember that you have this option.

Click to Listen
This truncated clip is simply intended to show you that there won’t always be a language barrier between you and the representative. Some calls will go more smoothly than others.
However, Google will sometimes go the extra mile to trick you through flat-out deception. Listen to this clip of a Google+ Local representative posing as a prospective home restoration customer.

Bottom line: Study your business’s surroundings, call Prospect Genius for assistance, and be prepared to answer any questions about your locale. When you receive a phone call from 650-253-2000 in Mountain View, CA, you’ll know that Google+ Local is on the other end.

New Policy: Changed Addresses Will Get New Listings

Not so long ago, you could change the address on your company’s listing without much of a consequence. This was helpful for businesses that moved locations or wanted to counteract an unfavorable reputation. However, there were also a lot of spammers who took advantage of this and created listings for locations in every nearby city. To crack down on this, Google+ Local has implemented a new policy for changed addresses. Now, instead of simply updating your current listing with the new address, Google will create an entirely new one that will have a note indicating that your company relocated from its previous address. Simultaneously, a note that says your company moved to a different location will be tacked onto your old listing.

How Will It Affect You?

This will only have a major effect on clients who have exhibited spammy behavior (e.g. creating a different listing for each city) in the past, as you will no longer be able to hide the number of times you’ve changed your address. But if you’re a business owner who has never moved or has only changed addresses once or twice in your entire time of operation, then there’s not much to worry about. For now, we’ll just reiterate how important it is for you to make certain that you input the correct information in the first place, since it’s nearly impossible to cover up any mistakes or revisions, as honest as they might be.
Bottom line: Get your address right the first time and don’t commit any factual errors on your Google+ Local listing, or else you’ll have a highly difficult time covering your tracks.

New Policy: Poorly Managed Listings Will Be Suspended

In addition to monitoring your address changes, Google+ Local carefully watches how your listing is being handled in general. If it seems like there is more than one entity in charge of your listing, Google will grow suspicious and most likely yank your listing until it gets sorted out. Most commonly, this happens when more than one person tries to edit a listing or gain access to the account by requesting another PIN.

How Will It Affect You?

When you began your campaign with Prospect Genius, we asked you to tell us about any Google+ Local listings that may exist for your business. That’s because if we try to gain access to your listing without knowing that you or another SEO company is managing it, then the validity of the listing will be called into question. For the same reason, it’s equally important that you don’t attempt to edit the listing yourself while Prospect Genius is managing it. If at any point it appears to Google that multiple parties are vying for control over the same listing, then that listing will be pulled.
Bottom line: Tell your Prospect Genius campaign coordinator about all of your existing listings and don’t attempt to edit listings yourself. Instead, call us and request a revision; one of our content specialists will take care of it.

When in Doubt, Call Prospect Genius!

Our team is here to help. If you ever encounter a situation that you don’t know how to handle or you simply need some clarification on these new policies, don’t hesitate to contact us! Your campaign coordinator, account manager, and content specialists are all standing by to ensure your business’s total success.

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