Minnesotans looking to file bankruptcy in Minnesota should be aware that many purported Google Map Business Listings are fraudulent. What do I mean by fraudulent? Google Maps are supposed to be accurate and give the consumer accurate information on which merchants are where and when they are open and staffed on Google Maps. The trouble is pernicious businesses dupe Google into believing that the business’s request for a local Google Map Listing is not false but is a real location staffed and open during its stated hours. For example, to obtain a local Google Map Listing for a law firm, the law firm must operate full time at that location (not by appointment only). So if the law firm represents they are open and staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday that is what Google then believes and represents to the public on Google Maps even if it is false. Why would a law firm dupe Google into publishing false advertising? Because it is big business for the law firm.
The more Google Map Business Listings a firm purports to have the more the public believes Google Maps and falsely believes the business is larger and more local than it really is. There are clients in some states that don’t even realize their purported local lawyer is not local at all but states away. This sort of false advertising injures the public and stymies real competition amongst law firms for business. Of course, when the profit checks are large, it is hard for a law firm not to drink their own Kool-Aid and accept the fact that what they are doing is injuring the public and other law firms.
If you ever stumble across a Google Map Listing for a law firm and you suspect the information on the Google Map Listing is false, just to draw you in, one, report the Google Map Listing to Google and two, call another more reputable law firm.
When the time is right, or when you are ready to get your life back, reach out to Minnesota’s largest bankruptcy law firm at www.kainscott.com. You will be so glad you did.