Speaker A
Hi everyone. In this video, I'm going to walk you through what name spamming is in local SEO, and I'm going to walk you through how to report name spamming competitors so that you can ultimately prevent competitors from beating you.
Learn how to identify and report Google My Business name spamming to protect your local SEO rankings in 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Name spamming involves adding keywords or locations to Google Business Profile names to manipulate rankings.
- This practice violates Google's policies but can give unethical competitors an unfair advantage.
- You can report name spamming by suggesting edits to the business name on Google My Business.
- Using real examples helps understand how to spot and address name spamming effectively.
- Consistent monitoring and reporting are necessary to protect your local SEO rankings.
What the video covers
- Explanation of name spamming in local SEO and its impact on Google My Business rankings.
- Use of a real client example, Swift Storage, a self-storage business in Australia.
- Competitors adding location keywords like 'Acacia Ridge' to their business names to boost rankings.
- Name spamming violates Google's guidelines but can still help competitors rank higher.
- Step-by-step guide on how to identify name spamming competitors.
- Instructions on suggesting edits to Google Business Profiles to report name spamming.
- Examples from other industries, such as dental practices in Tampa using location keywords improperly.
- Emphasis on the importance of ethical SEO practices and reporting violations to maintain fair competition.
- Acknowledgment that Google may not always change the business name after edits are suggested.
- Encouragement to actively monitor and report competitors abusing Google My Business naming policies.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Name Spamming in Local SEO
- 00:33Client Example: Swift Storage and Competitor Analysis
- 01:07What is Name Spamming and Why It Violates Google Policies
- 02:09How Name Spamming Boosts Google Rankings Unethically
- 02:49Reporting Name Spamming: Suggesting Edits on Google Business Profiles
- 03:18Additional Example: Dental Practices Using Location Keywords
- 04:11Summary and Importance of Ethical SEO Practices
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
that you can ultimately prevent competitors from beating you that are using unethical or tactics that go against Google's guidelines. So, in this video, I'm going to use a client of mine an example, Swift Storage. They are a self-storage business in Australia. And
Speaker A
So that you can ultimately prevent competitors from beating you that are using unethical or tactics that go against Google's guidelines. So, in this video, I'm going to use a client of mine as an example, Swift Storage. They are a self-storage business in Australia. And
Speaker A
this competitor, and also this competitor, they're using the location Acacia Ridge in their Google My Business name. And name spamming is when a competitor when someone's Google Business Profile uses a keyword in their business name in order to boost
Speaker A
one of the keywords that we're looking to get them to rank for is self-storage Acacia Ridge. And what I want you to do is look at this competitor here, Bob's Storage Acacia Ridge. This is an example of name spamming. You can see here that
Speaker A
they've actually got the keyword in their business name. However, if Storage Acacia Ridge isn't actually in their business name, this goes against Google's policies, and they're actually ranking higher on Google by going against Google's policies. So, if you're
Speaker A
this competitor, and also this competitor, they're using the location Acacia Ridge in their Google My Business name. And name spamming is when a competitor, when someone's Google Business Profile uses a keyword in their business name in order to boost
Speaker A
To give you another example, imagine you're trying to rank for dentist and you're in Tampa. If you look through these competitors, you can see these guys at the bottom, Great Expressions Dental Centers Tampa Bay. If they haven't actually got Tampa Bay in their
Speaker A
themselves up Google rankings, but doesn't actually have that keyword in their legitimate business name. And the reason that this works, you can see here Storage Acacia Ridge, that boosts their chances of being able to rank for any Storage Acacia Ridge keyword because
Speaker A
doing it as well, Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. This isn't in their business name, and they shouldn't be using it in their Google Business Profile, even though it is helping them rank higher.
Speaker A
they've actually got the keyword in their business name. However, if Storage Acacia Ridge isn't actually in their business name, this goes against Google's policies, and they're actually ranking higher on Google by going against Google's policies. So, if you're
Speaker A
to more about Bob's Storage Acacia Ridge. So, I want you to actually go just type in their exact business name.
Speaker A
trying to beat competitors like this that are actively putting keywords in their Google My Business Profile, but that isn't actually in their business name, you can suggest an edit on their profile to change their name to reduce the likelihood of them outranking you.
Speaker A
from there, you just go here and remove whichever part of their name that they're doing the name spamming on. So, I.E., what you're doing is if you go to the bottom of their website and you find their actual legitimate name, as you can
Speaker A
To give you another example, imagine you're trying to rank for dentist and you're in Tampa. If you look through these competitors, you can see these guys at the bottom, Great Expressions Dental Centers Tampa Bay. If they haven't actually got Tampa Bay in their
Speaker A
Google's policies. So, you go to suggest an edit, head to the business name, remove that bit, and then here I'm going to press submit, and then I'm going to press okay. Now, that doesn't actually mean that Google is going to change the
Speaker A
business name, it's likely that they're doing this in order to boost their rankings for dentist Tampa Bay because by having Tampa Bay and dentist in their business name, that helps them rank higher. You can see these guys are also
Speaker A
ultimately the game of business, and if businesses are going to name spam and if competing businesses are going to name spam and actively violate Google's policies in order to get a competitive edge over you, you need to be doing
Speaker A
doing it as well, Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. This isn't in their business name, and they shouldn't be using it in their Google Business Profile, even though it is helping them rank higher.
Speaker A
right-hand corner of the SEO Space dashboard, and I'll see you in the next video.
Topics:Google My Businessname spamminglocal SEOreport competitorsGoogle Business ProfileSEO 2026local SEO tacticsGoogle guidelinesbusiness name spamSEO Space
