I have been assisting a Chicago photographer with several issues. In June, Google suspended her Google Business Profile (GBP). She contacted me after Google reinstated her GBP, but it still didn’t pull in her reviews. She has since recovered all of the reviews. She is facing more issues.
Somebody attempted to mark her business as closed. She rejected that edit. Her map pin has been moved to the Gulf of Guinea. The Gulf of Guinea is off the coast of West Africa, south of Ghana. Somehow, people were able to trick Google into thinking her business is connected to the Amazon Locker – astina’s GBP. This GBP is supposed to be located in Madrid, Spain. Did spammers also edit and move the Amazon Locker map pin?
When I spoke with Ashley, she said she and 60 other photography GBPs were suspended back in June. Now spammers have updated the map pin for 25 GBP to show they are located off the coast of Africa. Luckily, this hack doesn’t move the business to its new location. My friend Darren Shaw tried it and showed that it doesn’t work. Here is Darren’s YouTube video breaking down this alleged hack.
Another variation in June 2024 moved map pins for various personal injury lawyers’ GBPs into the Pacific Ocean and onto Catalina Island. This hack worked because the businesses were showing the address. The impacted businesses in Chicago are hiding their addresses. You can’t edit or update the address for a GBP that doesn’t show the address. This is a wasted effort. However, these edits can still lead to a GBP needing to complete video verification or triggering suspension.