> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nearmedia.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Google GMB's Old Facebook Page Pwnd by Fake Reviews Vendor
- URL: https://www.nearmedia.co/google-gets/
- Published: 2022-01-28T17:04:55.000Z
- Updated: 2024-11-19T22:43:19.000Z
- Description: Google allowed a fake reviews company to snatch its old Facebook URL.
- Author: Mike Blumenthal
- Tags: Analysis

When Google [changed its local brand](https://www.nearmedia.co/ep-40/) from "Google My Business" to "Google Business Profile" in November of 2021, its Facebook URL changed from [facebook.com/GoogleMyBusiness](https://www.facebook.com/googlemybusiness) to [facebook.com/GoogleBusinessProfile](https://www.facebook.com/GoogleBusinessProfile).

[Joy Hawkins](https://sterlingsky.ca/?ref=nearmedia.co) pointed out on Twitter, we live in a world of unintended consequences:

> When Google My Business rebranded, they changed the URL for their Facebook support page to match the new name. Take a look at who snatched the old one. Do you know how many links online point to this URL? 🤦‍♀️[https://t.co/PmhBl2Pkym](https://t.co/PmhBl2Pkym?ref=nearmedia.co) [#fail](https://twitter.com/hashtag/fail?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=nearmedia.co)   
> h/t [@CarrieHill](https://twitter.com/CarrieHill?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=nearmedia.co)
> 
> — Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) [January 28, 2022](https://twitter.com/JoyanneHawkins/status/1487088696105050118?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=nearmedia.co)

The bad news: the page was quickly taken over by a business that sells Google reviews. The good news, they are only $4\. 

The moral of this tale is that both Google and Facebook failed the public vis-a-vis the world of consumer reviews. Google failed to prevent fake reviews from continuing to have value and Facebook failed to police its network for obvious scams. 

Truly a grim metaphor for the state of reviews and moderation. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/03/80/0380d96d-ef7e-450e-96b3-2963e18aaab5/content/images/2022/01/Screen-Shot-2022-01-28-at-11.55.32-AM.png)