The hijacking of restaurants, hotels and other locksmith listings was a completely different issue. Google allowed this to go on for a long time. These companies continue to steal listings every day. They are to the point that they call companies stating they are from Google and want to update your company information. Google has specific information yet does nothing to these couple of companies. They simply block all locksmiths.

In response to Damien’s post. First a “service call” is a “trip charge” not the cost of the work. Most locksmith companies are very specific about this. Secondly, the site you recommended emergencylocksmithleads.com and other sites like this are even more dangerous. They give consumers the false impression that they actually research or “pre-screen” locksmiths. They don’t. They are taking the jobs and rummaging around for someone to give the job to so they can make (a lot) of money from them. They have even less accountability and can tell the consumer anything.

Locksmiths are the same as every other business out there trying to make money. Google is allowed to control the success or failure of every business. Since a handful of locksmith companies pissed Google off, Google is solving the problem by making the entire industry pay. Way to go Google.