Google Free website

Everything to do with using your own website to advertise your rental property. Design, usability, hosting, getting listed on the search engines, optimising your site, pay-per-click, etc, etc.
Jemima Copping
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:22 pm
Location: Scotland
Contact:

Google Free website

Post by Jemima Copping »

I got a message from Google my business.
It says ‘Don’t forget to publish your free website, publish now’.
It is telling me that I’ve already created a mobile friendly website and need to publish so it can be seen by my customers. What is going on here?
Why should I publish with Google, what advantage would I have?
I already have a website with PMP which is mobile friendly. Is Google trying to muscle in and take business from smaller web hosts? Recently I found that a guest had left a very nice review on Google, but a truly awful photo, which I managed to remove. Other photos from my website were also on Google. This is what they are saying is my Google website. Google had also placed a completely inaccurate photo of the access to my property which I asked to be removed, but not sure whether they have done so.
Better to be mutton dressed as lamb than mutton dressed as mutton!
COYS
Posts: 795
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:24 pm
Location: Greek Islands

Post by COYS »

Personally I think GMB is self generating tosh designed simply to push Google ads sales from the listing holders. Aside from a long standing independent website I have a GMB listing which was set up simply as an additional web presence & as a verification tool (map pin) However it is continually having photos & reviews added from random strangers who have never stayed here. Some are 5* others are not, most have only ratings & no text, but only 1 of the growing number is actually attributable to a previous guest. Some ‘customer added’ photos have been of totally different property, ranging from random hotel rooms to the ubiquitous legs on a lounger & cocktail shots. I managed to get these removed when flagged but the ratings stayed even though reported as false (yes, even the 5* ones) No sooner has a mysterious reviewer appeared than I am inundated with prompts from Google to buy an ad campaign. I’ve never done so & never will even though the stated search results, click throughs etc that they always include appear impressive (are they real though?) What mystifies me most is who on earth are all these random strangers reviewing & uploading unrelated pics to listings of places they've never been? I did raise a support query asking the same but no surprise that it garnered zero response.
This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires.
Jemima Copping
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:22 pm
Location: Scotland
Contact:

Post by Jemima Copping »

Thank you COYS that is what I suspected would happen. I would say that what you have experienced almost amounts to harassment. It is so annoying to have to keep an eye on everything on line. So I will just delete every email from Google in future, while keeping an eye out for fake photos etc.
Better to be mutton dressed as lamb than mutton dressed as mutton!
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