Things move quickly in politics.
With Andy Burnham just in office, bond yields going through the roof and government debt apparently requiring increasingly creative solutions, you would be forgiven for thinking the Treasury might be looking down the back of the sofa for a few quid.
It appears somebody at Number 10 has gone one better.
Forget tax rises. Forget spending cuts. Forget another consultation.
10 Downing Street has apparently embraced the side hustle!
And boy, are they going hard.
A quick look at Google Maps would suggest that one of the most famous addresses in the world is no longer merely the home and office of the Prime Minister.
You can now seemingly pop down to Downing Street for peptides, courier support, mushrooms, graphic design, car parts, a Labrador puppy and possibly a chocolate bar.
Diversification, ladies and gentlemen.
There is just one small problem.
None of this is actually happening at Number 10.
The Downing Street Business Empire
According to Google Business Profiles appearing at 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA, the Government has been extremely busy diversifying its revenue streams.
At the time of writing, I found profiles including:
- Premium peptides UK&US, listed as a pharmacy with five-star reviews.
- Evri Support London, apparently providing logistics services from Number 10.
- Fungi boys, a wholesaler open 24 hours.
- Note Vendor, a money order service, also open around the clock.
- Graphic Designer, a design agency.
- Vapor hevean, listed as a vaporiser shop and apparently trading 24 hours a day.
- Labrador retriever puppies, because apparently Downing Street now breeds dogs.
- Rarehondapart, an auto parts store.
- Psychedelic shop, rather curiously categorised as a cigar shop.
- REFINEDBIOLABS, another pharmacy.
- Mushroom chocolate bar, listed as a chocolate artisan.
Quite the little business hub.
Perhaps the next reshuffle will include a Minister for Mushroom Chocolate Bars.
Of course, by now you have probably figured out this isn’t an ingenious Burnham plan to close the national debt gap.
It is good old fashioned Google Business Profile spam.
And some of it is spectacular.
A Famous Address Makes The Perfect Target
Addresses like 10 Downing Street attract spammers for a reason.
Everybody knows the address exists.
Google certainly knows it exists.
It is a prominent real location with an enormous number of references across the web. There is no ambiguity about whether 10 Downing Street is a genuine physical address.
The problem is that the existence of an address does not prove the existence of a business operating from that address.
That distinction matters.
A legitimate Google Business Profile should represent a genuine business that meets Google’s eligibility and representation requirements.
Slapping a pharmacy, wholesaler, puppy breeder or auto parts shop onto a well-established address does not magically create a real business there.
Yet profiles like these still manage to appear.
And that brings me neatly to Google.
Come On Google
I am not letting Google Business Profiles off that easily.
You know me better than that.
Spam appearing on Google Maps is nothing new. Anyone working with Google Business Profiles has seen fake businesses, lead generation profiles, keyword stuffed names, virtual offices, and businesses using addresses where they do not operate.
But some of the Downing Street examples raise another question.
Some profiles can display messaging indicating that the business confirmed its opening hours with Google.
Just think about that for a second.
Google is effectively reassuring the user that the hours were recently confirmed.
For a business apparently operating from 10 Downing Street.
Can I facepalm any harder?
This is exactly the sort of thing that makes spam particularly problematic. The average person using Google Maps does not understand the mechanics behind Google Business Profiles.
They see a business.
They see an address.
They see opening hours.
They may see reviews.
They might even see Google telling them those hours have been confirmed.
Why would they immediately assume the business does not exist?
This Is More Than Funny Map Spam
It is easy to laugh at a Labrador breeder apparently operating alongside the Prime Minister, but Google Business Profile spam has real consequences.
Fake profiles can intercept searches intended for legitimate businesses. Lead generation profiles can funnel enquiries elsewhere. Fraudulent support listings can place unsuspecting users in contact with people they should never have contacted.
Then there is the wider problem for Google Maps itself.
Google wants users to trust the information it displays.
If users repeatedly encounter businesses that do not exist, addresses being abused, and profiles presenting apparently reassuring information about fraudulent entities, that trust starts to disappear.
Legitimate local businesses face another issue.
You have spent years building a real business. You have premises, staff, insurance, customers, a website, reviews and all the associated costs of actually operating.
Then somebody creates a profile at an address they have absolutely nothing to do with and starts competing for visibility.
Not particularly funny anymore.
Google Does Give Us A Way To Report It
Thankfully, Google provides a way to report fraudulent Business Profiles.
I have a full guide covering reporting fake or spam Google Business Profiles, including the different routes available depending on the problem you have found.
For more serious spam, Google’s Business Redressal Complaint Form is particularly useful.
Originally launched in February 2019, the form now includes an additional option that is rather appropriate for our Downing Street business empire:
This business does not exist.
And five years later, I still think Google should rename the thing:
Spam Report.
Much easier.
The Business Redressal Complaint Form
Google states that the form can be used to report misleading information or fraudulent activity on Google Maps relating to a business’s name, phone number, or website.
It can also be used where a business does not exist.
This is important because not every incorrect piece of information warrants a redressal complaint.
If your local restaurant has accidentally listed the wrong closing time, that is not fraud.
If somebody has created a completely fictitious business at 10 Downing Street, we are in rather different territory.
Number 10 Probably Has Enough To Be Getting On With
So, sadly, it appears the Government has not solved the debt problem with peptides, mushroom chocolate, car parts and Labrador puppies.
It is simply another rather wonderful example of the strange things you can find lurking inside Google Maps.
Funny?
Absolutely.
But it also shows a genuine weakness in the Google Business Profile ecosystem: too hard for legitimate businesses to get on, and too easy to spam.
If obviously questionable businesses can attach themselves to one of the most recognisable government addresses on the planet, appear publicly on Google Maps and potentially acquire some of the trust signals Google itself displays to users, we probably still have a bit of work to do.
In the meantime, if you spot a fake business, report it.
And if you genuinely need a Labrador puppy, some peptides, a graphic designer and a rare Honda part…
I probably wouldn’t head to Number 10!
Google Business Profile & Local SEO With Online Ownership
Google Business Profiles can be brilliant for local businesses, but they can also be frustrating, unpredictable and, as we have just seen, occasionally completely bonkers.
At Online Ownership, I work with businesses on Google Business Profile management and Local SEO, helping them improve local visibility, deal with profile problems, and build a stronger presence across Google.
Because Local SEO is not about finding one clever trick to rank a Google Business Profile, it is about making sure Google understands your business, trusts the information it finds and has enough evidence to show you when a potential customer is searching locally confidently.
Preferably without sharing your address with a mushroom wholesaler, peptide pharmacy and Labrador puppy breeder.
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