Google Maps is overrun with fake business listings and phone numbers that reroute to competing businesses, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Hundreds of thousands of fake listings appear on Google Maps every month, with the Journal estimating the service currently has about 11 million falsely listed businesses.
Though Google claims in a self-funded 2017 academic study that only 0.5 percent of local searches are false listings, a separate investigation by the Journal suggested otherwise. In searching for plumbers in New York City, the Journal found 13 of the top 20 Google search results listed false addresses, and only two were real businesses that actually adhered to Google guidelines, which stipulate that pushpin listings must…
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