From Danny Sullivan’s piece on Google’s latest “Farmer Update”:

We’re evaluating multiple changes that should help drive spam levels even lower, including one change that primarily affects sites that copy others’ content and sites with low levels of original content. We’ll continue to explore ways to reduce spam, including new ways for users to give more explicit feedback about spammy and low-quality sites.

So I guess that means we will no longer find Google Places listings in the SERPs then? After all, 99% of all Place Pages have been assembled by Google with 100% other people’s content, unless a listing is claimed and updated/changed significantly by the business owner and/or spammer. Right?

Thanks to Biggi Fraley for pointing this out.

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13 Response Comments

  • LR  February 25, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    I talked to a tags rep last week, and he said the locksmith thing has to do with some crime organization and that he hears his bosses talking about it all the time and how the FBI is involved. They are now spamming moving companies now, which may also become a big problem like the locksmith spam. I did also get some cool info about a Places manager that flies into the tags office in AZ from CA every week to do manual edits. He did one for me, but told me it will not go live for another week or so.

  • Andrew Shotland  February 25, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    Love that someone has to “fly in” to do manual edits.

  • Sol  February 25, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    After I read this, I imagined Stephen Colbert going ‘nailed em’

  • Andrew Shotland  February 25, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    Nation, when it comes to dealing with Place Page optimization, we’re all heroes.

  • Chris A  February 26, 2011 at 7:06 am

    Oh the duplicitous face of Google once again shines.

  • Dana  February 26, 2011 at 11:05 am

    Given the content of this post, it’s ironic that as I type this comment, @business cards’ comment has not been deleted. Classic.

  • Andrew Shotland  February 26, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    Only so many hours in the day i can spend deleting blogspam Dana, but look above you now 🙂

  • Dana  February 26, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    Poooooof!!!! Gone. 😉

  • Myka  February 26, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    Lots of local businesses use Google Places forlocal internet marketing and I’m happy that spamming issue will be resolved soon.

  • Andrew Shotland  February 26, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    Ok Myka I am leaving your comment up for a while because you are comment spammer with a sense of irony (inadvertent as it might be)

  • james pader  April 1, 2011 at 5:27 am

    interesting too, since @Mykas target is a javascript page with ZERO content, all pic no text. 🙂 couldn’t help but laugh…

  • geoklix  July 15, 2011 at 11:55 am

    that’s for sure, thousands of local farmers.