SEO experts are urging Google to take notice that local business owners and marketers at competitors are playing hardball in Google Places. It's a blackhat tactic that recently surfaced, causing some
listings in Google's local directory to indicate the company will or has closed when it's not true. Mike Blumenthal explained to MediaPost that while Google Places relies on checks and balances for
local listings that are aggregated from multiple sources across the Web, user-generated posts sometimes override posts from proprietors, triggering the red flag.
Read the whole story at Understanding Google Maps & Local Search »