“Stuff Worth Reading” is turning into a sort-of weekly round-up of articles on SEO & Internet Marketing that are relevant to retail florists. I’d go so far as to call it required reading, but that’s just me.
This time around, I’m splitting this into two parts. Over the past week, two FlowerChat members have been instrumental in outting a spammer’s efforts to hijack local florist listings on Google Maps. Darrel from La Jolla Village Florist first noticed the hijacked listings, and florist SEO superstar, Cathy Hillen-Rulloda from Avante Gardens quickly tracked down many more listings hijacked by the same spammer.
Their work was quickly noticed by the elite bloggers in the Local Search space, so we’re dedicating this edition of Stuff Worth Reading to Cathy & Darrel:
- Spammers Hijack Top Florist Google Listings – Real Florists Blog
- Perils of Not Claiming Your Listing – Small Business SEM
- Importance of Google’s Business Listings – Bruce Clay Blog
- Widespread Hijacking Confirmed – Mike Blumenthal
- Google Groups report
This reminds me how much I hate spammers and hijackers! I’m curious what they are actually getting from doing these stupid stunts? Are they being paid by florist competitors or what?
I definitely think that Stuff Worth Reading has great tips and tricks that are useful even now and beneficial not only for florists.