Local service Google ads that see a lot of fake reviews

Google’s local service ads are supposed to be reviewed, guaranteed, and reviewed by someone hired by Google. But the reviews in many local service ads are allegedly full of fake reviews.

As we described today, Google is now showing three local service ads on a mobile phone, instead of two. Part of Len’s tweet was that he said “all these ads are spam and Google has been refusing to act on my reports for 5+ months.” Len said he expects a lot more spam and fake reviews to arrive in local service ads.

Google tested 3 LSA results on mobile.
Have you seen this b4 @tomwaddington8?
cc @rustybrick

The bigger story is that all of these ads are spam and Google has refused to act on my reports for over 5 months. Expect more on this soon! @adsliaison @keyserholiday pic.twitter.com/ZVVDaXtn6j

— Len 🌴 (@lenraleigh) July 22, 2022

Greg Sterling posted on Twitter with the question “Fake reviews are included in the LSA. Does the presence of the “Google Screened” label (in these cases) constitute “consumer deception” (according to the FTC) because it may imply the integrity of the reviews in the LSA?”

That’s a good question. There are tons of fake reviews that LSA gets from GBP profiles. & ofc spammers are now getting fake reviews directly for LSA ad. The inactivity here is shocking. There are 6 big problems with LSA – fake reviews are also one of them.

— Len 🌴 (@lenraleigh) July 22, 2022

Curtis Boyd joked that buying local service ad fake reviews is much more expensive than regular fake reviews:

I mean verified LSA reviews cost more than local guides 😂 pic.twitter.com/y4dRwNLwvT

— Curtis Boyd (@DataBoyd) July 22, 2022

And Tom Waddington points out something all too obvious:

I searched for personal injury attorneys in Fresno and all 100 LSA results I got had a rating of 5.0
Given the company names, multiple listings for the same company, and the lack of verification that the locations are real, I don’t see how anyone at Google could be okay with these results pic.twitter.com/KGM90PuhOk

— Tom Waddington (@tomwaddington8) July 23, 2022

It’s terrible for Californians because there’s no way they’re going to be well represented.

The monetary damage this costs CA companies must be in the tens to hundreds of millions of $$$. In some cases, ads from legitimate businesses don’t appear at all. G spams potential customers.

— Len 🌴 (@lenraleigh) July 23, 2022

Clearly, this is getting the attention of the local SEO community and Google will have to act, but until Google does, will local service ads be untrustworthy?

Forum discussion at Twitter.