How To Report Rogue Traders to Google My Business

UK trades and small businesses in areas unregulated by the law are up against tough competition when it comes to competing with dishonest competitors. I regularly see the devastating financial and emotional effects that unscrupulous individuals have on innocent and vulnerable people.

This post is to inform trades people and customers alike how to report dishonest companies to Google. I am not an expert and I am simply sharing what I have found out on the subject.

Reasons to Report a Company to Google

There are several reasons that you may feel the need to make Google aware of dishonest actions by a company such as;

• You have been grossly overcharged or mistreated by a company
• You are a trades-person and are aware of numerous customers being overcharged and mistreated by a company.
• You are aware of fake Google reviews

How to Let Google Know When a Company is Misrepresenting Themselves

There are a few ways that you can communicate potential issues with a company to Google.

1) Leave a Google Review for the Company

This is the most obvious way and allows other customers to see your feedback. However be aware that your feedback has the potential to become lost in a sea of fake reviews if posting fake reviews is a strategy used by the company.

You can read here about a company in Islington in London penalised for posting fake reviews.

2) Report a Fake Review to Google

Reporting fake reviews to Google can be done by clicking the 3 dots to the right of the review to report it.

Choose the reason why you are reporting the review and it is automatically submitted.

This is suitable for reporting individual reviews.

3) To Report Fake Reviews to Google as a Larger Issue Complete Google’s Business Redressal Complaint form

This is where you can report a Google Maps entry. The purpose of this form is to report misleading information as well as fraudulent activity on Google Maps.

If the complaint is related to the phone number, name or URL of the business then this is the form to use. It is then down to Google to assess whether the complaint is one that needs to be taken further.

First complete your information.

Then add the urls. Top Tip: to find the correct Google Maps urls search here. You can add multiple urls used by a company.

Then provide an explanation and submit the form. The explanation field is limited to 1000 characters. You may want to include a link to the companies house listing for the company in question.

You will not be informed if the matter is taken further.

4) Report an Incorrect Business name, Phone number, or URL to Google

This is the form to use to correct incorrect details on Google such as business name, phone number, or URL.

There may be other information on this topic that I am unaware of and I welcome comments below from real experts on the subject.

Google is a real asset to so many businesses, and it is encouraging to know that Google do address issues of companies misrepresenting themselves in the UK and Worldwide. It is important that those who have had problems with disreputable companies in the UK report issues to Google as well as Trading Standards.

After all Google’s slogan is “Do the Right Thing”