Google Sues Search Engine Marketer For False Advertising

And Google says it’s a problem that has blighted its company for a long time.

Mike Blumenthal details the finer points of the lawsuit here, but it is obvious that Local Lighthouse has been subject to repeated warnings from Google about their business practices and impersonating Google in their sales script but refused to change their tactics.

It’s likely you’ve received a robocall from these this group, even if you didn’t know who was behind it. The calls suggest the caller is from Google, or representing Google, and needs to talk to you about your search rankings.

When Google sent a demand letter to the company last year, it denied making robocalls, according to the suit. In its complaint (PDF), Google says that Tustin, California-based Local Lighthouse has bombarded consumers with “incessant, unsolicited automated telephone calls” since mid-2014, making “false guarantees of first-page placement in Google search results”.

Despite the implication in some recordings that the firms are calling on official Google business, Google says it has nothing to do with the calls.

Whether Google plans to initiate lawsuits against other agencies accused of robocalls remains to be seen – but one thing for sure is they are on Google’s radar.

Robocalling is an issue that affects more than just Google’s millions of advertisers.

Local Lighthouse currently has five other civil suits pending against it, each filed by consumers over claims of illegal robocalls. The page explains steps users should take to protect themselves from further calls and offers links to a report the callers to Google, as well as the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) or FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

There are many reviews about the business online that criticizes their misleading marketing through robocalls and the inability for recipients of the phone calls to get off their phone list.

Forum discussion at Google My Business Help, Local Search Forums and Google+.

Local Lighthouse, and other agencies engaging in similar practices, are damaging Google’s reputation every time one of those calls is placed. Our records indicate that your Google Business Listing has not been claimed’. And they added a new way for business owners to report these types of robocalls that state they are Google. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions.