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Is Your Scotland Based Business Safe From International Hijacking?

The internet has made the world a very small place and while technology such as local search has been a boon for small local businesses, those that don’t bother utilising it may find their listings are being hijacked. Search Engine Journal has a report on a New Zealand business that has been prosecuted for hijacking local businesses and pointing those listings to their own business website.

Could it happen here in Scotland? It most certainly can, but what should be more worrying is that it can be foreign businesses and web sites that are hijacking these listings. Hijacking listings like this is fraud and against the law here in Scotland.

It seems that it’s not that difficult to do either and, if it is an overseas criminal that has hijacked your business, there is little the law can do. You will have to convince the search engines that the listing has been redirected away from your business and have the right details entered. Of course, there is a simpler solution to this.

Generally speaking, these criminals, whether local or overseas, target local search listings that have not been claimed. In most cases, these businesses carry on with no idea that traffic (including walk in traffic) is being redirected elsewhere. They also have no idea that, in some cases, their business name is being used in areas the business would not want to be associated with. So, how do you fix this issue? Easy!

If you have a local business here in Scotland, your first step should be to claim it through Google Local Search (now Google Places). It would also be a good idea to register a domain name for your business and put together a web site, even if it is only a basic site. This can be achieved at low cost; in fact, claiming your business is actually free. Avoid the hassles of having your business traffic hijacked – claim your business and perhaps even reap the rewards.