Google Small Business: September 2015

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Protecting people from illegal robocalls

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

You’re eating dinner with your family when the phone rings, and you see a phone number that you don’t recognize. You answer and hear a recording: “It’s extremely urgent that we speak to the business owner! We’ve tried to reach you numerous times. Our records indicate that your Google Business Listing has not been claimed...”

This is a common type of robocall, or automated phone call that delivers a pre-recorded message to sell or market services. Some, like informational notices from a doctor’s office, airline or pharmacy, can be useful and are allowed by law. Many others, however, are both useless and illegal in the United States. As the FTC explains: “if the recording is a sales message and you haven't given your written permission to get calls from the company on the other end, the call is illegal.”

Robocallers have targeted Google users for many years. Callers commonly bombard recipients—usually small business owners or individuals—with misleading offers and promotions for improving Google Search and AdWords rankings, or to improve their Google My Business profile. Since the beginning of 2015, we’ve received hundreds of complaints from users about robocalls they’ve received from businesses claiming to be affiliated with Google.

These illegal calls are a huge nuisance, cause small businesses and Google users to unnecessarily worry, and can lead to rip-offs. Illegal robocalls never have, and never will, come from Google.

Unfortunately, this is part of a much larger issue that extends beyond just Google users and customers. The FCC received 215,000 complaints about robocalls in 2014, the FTC gets approximately 150,000 complaints about them every month and says it has brought more than 100 lawsuits against more than 600 companies and individuals responsible for billions of illegal robocalls, to date. Robocallers impersonate many different companies, and have even impersonated the local police, the IRS, and the FTC itself.

If you receive illegal robocalls, here are a few things you can do right now to protect yourself:

Report callers to Google, and also the FTC or the FCC.
Hang up the phone. Do not press any key, even if the voice recording prompts you to in order to speak with a live person or to be taken off the call list.
Contact your phone company to see if they can block calls from any numbers.
Register your personal number with the National Do Not Call Registry at: https://www.donotcall.gov/register/reg.aspx or call 1-888-382-1222.

It’s difficult for Google to take action against callers because they often use untraceable phone numbers, fake company names, and massive global networks of intermediaries. However, today we’re filing an action in California against one search engine optimization company for making these robocalls and confusing our users. It’s unfortunate when a problem must be addressed in a court of law, but we believe this course of action will protect our users and discourage this practice more broadly.

Running a small business is hard work under the best of circumstances. Dealing with illegal robocallers isn’t just a waste of time, it can result in wasted resources and significant damage to your business. We hope these tips, and shining a light on the issue, will help discourage and eventually eliminate this practice.

Posted by Brad Wetherall, Google My Business Operations Manager

Update July 11, 2016: The search engine optimization company that we took legal action against has now agreed to stop making these calls, which is a great outcome for consumers: fewer misleading calls and interrupted meals!

Become a Smarter Marketer with Primer

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Whether you’re a small business owner or a professional at a large company, connecting with customers can be a challenge. The opportunity to reach people in the moments that matter has never been greater, but to succeed, you must master a new set of tools, skills, and strategies. Keeping up can be tough for even the most experienced marketer.
At Google, we’re working hard to make sure everyone can keep up in today’s digital landscape. That’s why we’re happy to introduce Primer, a free mobile app filled with bite-sized lessons that help you put to work the latest and most useful marketing concepts. You can do Primer’s lessons on the go, whenever you have a few minutes free. We think of it as an in-the-coffee-line guide to marketing.
Primer was inspired by the struggles my colleagues and I have faced while trying to learn new marketing topics during our busy daily schedules. The fact is, over 90% of adults don’t spend any time during the day educating themselves.1 So we wanted to build a tool that offers digital lessons that can be soaked up within five minutes – like when you’re on the morning train commute, waiting in line for coffee, or in between meetings.
Primer lessons are available offline so they can be done anywhere. And each lesson is fun and jargon-free, covering topics like mobile site design, programmatic buying, content marketing, and search advertising. In short, you’ll learn real skills you can use today.

Whether you’re looking to grow your business, advance your career, or simply build your professional aptitude, Primer presents you with fresh knowledge to become a smarter marketer. Download it now on iPhone and Android or visit us at www.yourprimer.com.
Posted by Bethany Poole, Group Marketing Manager, Google
Sources: 1Data for adults over 25 from the BLS’s American Time Use Survey.

Google Small Business Presents Social Media Month

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

September is Social Media Month for Google Small Business! All month long, we're bringing you a variety of experts to help you harness the power of social for your business. Tune in each Friday at noon PST for a live video Q&A about a different social media topic.
Check out our lineup below:
LinkedIn for Small Business, 9/4 at noon PSTYouTube for Small Business, 9/11 at noon PSTPinterest for Small Business, 9/18 at noon PSTTwitter for Small Business, 9/25 at noon PST

Click on the event links above to RSVP and come prepared with your social media questions. For more tips, tricks and small business help, join the Google Small Business Community.
Happy Social Media Month!

Small Business

Protecting people from illegal robocalls

Become a Smarter Marketer with Primer

Google Small Business Presents Social Media Month

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