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# Ep 173 (From the Vault)The Google Review Fraud Landscape in Maps & LSA and How a Business  Should Respond
- URL: https://www.nearmedia.co/ep-173-from-the-vault-the-google-review-fraud-landscape-in-maps-lsa-and-how-a-business-should-respond/
- Published: 2024-09-10T21:42:41.000Z
- Updated: 2024-09-11T11:09:32.000Z
- Description: A conversation with Curtis Boyd of the Transparency company: The Google review fraud landscape, LSA fraud and a discussion of practical advice for how business owners & agencies should respond.
- Author: Near Media
- Tags: Conversations

**Google Review Fraud Landscape (10:17)**:

- Estimates that 18% of reviews across various platforms are fake.
- Home service industries, such as locksmiths, moving companies, and HVAC, are heavily affected.
- Legal sector is also impacted, with fake reviews prevalent among personal injury, criminal defense, and DUI lawyers.

**LSA Review Fraud (21:38)**:

- Lead generation scammers are stealing business from ethical businesses using fake LSA reviews.
- They overcharge consumers and use higher ad revenue to improve their bidding strategy within LSA dashboards.
- Google's LSA program is designed to give consumers confidence in businesses by elevating them above spam and fraud, but it has not been successful.

**Practical Advice for Business Owners to Cope With Fake Reviews (41:03)**:

- Gather evidence of fraudulent activity, such as fake reviews or stolen business licenses, to build a strong case.
- Report fake reviews to Google through the proper channels, but be aware that Google's response may be slow or ineffective.
- Consider legal action against fraudulent businesses, as it may be a violation of racketeering laws in certain jurisdictions.

### Segment Reference Articles: 

- [The Transparency Company](https://askfortransparency.com/?ref=nearmedia.co)
- [LSA Spam Scam - It's Deja Vu All Over Again](https://www.nearmedia.co/lsa-spam-scam-its-deja-vu-all-over-again/)
- [Uberall analyzes four million reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and Tripadvisor to determine comparative rates of review fraud](https://uberall.com/en-us/company/press-releases/study-67-of-us-consumers-say-fake-online-reviews-a-growing-problem?ref=nearmedia.co)