For this project, I looked at 5,734 Google Business Profiles (GBPs) across 35 categories. 31 categories are in the home service industries. The other four categories are known for spam and abuse. 58 GBPs were suspended before I could map out their GBPs. I looked at GBPs in and around Toronto, Ontario. Some of the data matched my expectations regarding name and address abuse. I was shocked to see the data for UTM tracking URLs.
Address TOS Violations
Google’s TOS states that if you plan to display your address, you must have permanent signage. If you create a listing at your address, you must hide the address and designate a service area business (SAB). 37% of the GBPs violate Google’s TOS. The TOS violations are not hiding the address, using a P.O. box, using a self-storage unit, having an incomplete or inaccurate address, not having a phone number and a website listed, or listing the business inside a business in which they are not located. An incomplete address lacks the street name and/or number. An inaccurate address means the address was entered incorrectly in the address field. I ignored all addresses using a virtual office. Virtual offices are permitted, provided they have a permanent office with signage and are staffed during posted business hours.
The painters category has the highest number of violations. They have 105 GBPs, or 58% in violation of Google’s TOS. Cannabis has the lowest amount of violations with 4%. Locksmith ranked second, with 55% of the GBPs in breach of the TOS. While I was mapping out my data, 58 GBPs were suspended and removed from Google.
Service Area Businesses
Service Area Businesses (SABs) are businesses that conceal their addresses and account for 16% of all GBPs. 943 GBPs are not showing their address. Tree timing has the most SABs. They have 57 SABs, or 37%.
Cannabis, criminal defense, and personal injury GBPs have the lowest percentage, with 1%. Cannabis is not allowed to have SABs. Google updated the TOS in November 2024 to prevent age-restricted businesses from having a SAB.
Average Review Counts
The average rating is 4.3. The average review count is 97; criminal defense and pest control are tied for first place, with an average rating of 4.7. Masonry ranked last, with an average rating of 3.7 and an average review count of 15. Air conditioning repair ranked first with an average of 588 reviews. Cannabis ranked first, with 0% GBPs and no reviews. SEOs ranked last, with 35 GBPs with no reviews.
Can you contact the Business?
2% of the GBPs don’t have a telephone number. Handyman ranks last, with 6% of GBPs, due to the absence of a telephone number. Appliance repair, cash for cars, and window replacement companies tied for first place in their GBPs, listing a telephone number. Cash for cars ranks last, with the fewest GBPs and no website. 36% of their GBPs don’t list a website. Cannabis ranks first, with only 2% of GBPs not listing a website. Several GBPs don’t list phone numbers and websites. This is not allowed. If you try to remove both, the system doesn’t let you. These GBPs must be removed due to this TOS violation.
HTTP vs HTTPs
I discovered that 57% of the GBPs listed a website with an SSL certificate. Of the GBPs with a listed website, 3247 use either https:// or https://www. 30% of the websites don’t list the SSL URL. 1924 of the GBPs list the SSL URL without www. That equates for 34% of all listed websites. HTTPS comes in second at 22% of all listed websites. HTTP ranks last, accounting for 12% of all listed websites.
When I excluded the 720 GBPs that did not list a website, the SSL websites increased to 65%. Almost 2/3rds of all GBPs list a website with SSL. This strongly suggests that 65% of businesses have worked with a web design and/or marketing agency at some point.
I performed a spot check of GBPs that didn’t list an SSL URL, and only a few had not upgraded to SSL. The other few are expired domains or hosting accounts.
Cannabis and SEO GBPs are tied at 51% for listing HTTPS URLs. Water damage ranks third, while plumbers rank fourth at 45%. Pest control, personal injury, movers, and locksmiths are tied for fifth place with 44%. Pool service ranks last, with only 20% of all GBPs listed as HTTPS.
It’s no shock that SEO GBPs have the lowest percentage of non-secure URLs. HTTP accounts for 5% of all listed URLs, and http://www equates for 4%. Given that SEO GBPs favor more SSL URLs, the numbers for these other industries should be higher.
UTM tracking URLs
One of the extremely alarming data points is the lack of UTM tracking URLs. Only 433 GBPs have a UTM tracking URL. They account for 7% of the GBPs I examined. The number increases to 8% when I removed the 720 GBPs without a website. This means that these GBPs have to rely on data from Google Search Console. They can’t independently track and confirm how many clicks their GBP website’s URL is generating. Google has had several data issues and outages last year. Every time Google updates how data is collected and reported, it is only proactive, never retroactive. You can track UTM URLs in Google Analytics (GA).
Do we, as Local SEOs, need to do a better job of educating SEO and web design companies on the importance of UTM parameters and that they should update the website field after redesigning the website? I briefly worked at an agency where none of the GBPs had UTM tracking set up. None of their GBPs had UTM tracking set up. After I left, they failed to add UTM parameters to their new clients.
I also feel like we, as SEO are too focused on rankings. The fact that so many GBPs are displaying their address when they should be hiding it leads me to believe that many SEOs don’t fully understand SEO and are seeking quick wins. The percentage of GBPs violating the address guidelines is way too high. This leads me to believe that too many SEOs are chasing vanity metrics and don’t care if they put their clients in harm’s way, which could lead to a suspension.
Since Google has ceased addressing redress requests for businesses that display their addresses, there is no incentive to comply with the rules. You can openly violate the TOS. These businesses will benefit until Google conducts a sweep and suspends them. The reinstatement process has become a significant pain to navigate. These businesses will be offline until they get reinstated.
Are you seeing signs of abuse among your competitors? Contact me if you want to get Google to clean up your industry.
