Like I mentioned, not sure if this is still possible, but there were several people complaining about this 'hack' in the forums. Undid edits, etc etc. but it took a loooong time.
There's something fundamentally flawed in the "prove your ownership" mechanism, once someone changes the phone number and business name, they can control the listing, as USPS never delivers the card (no such business at this address). We need a better mechanism, e.g. one where google contacts the owner of the URL associated with the place.
Note that this wasn't spam, but a directed attack.
Like I mentioned, not sure if this is still possible, but there were several people complaining about this 'hack' in the forums. Undid edits, etc etc. but it took a loooong time.
There's something fundamentally flawed in the "prove your ownership" mechanism, once someone changes the phone number and business name, they can control the listing, as USPS never delivers the card (no such business at this address). We need a better mechanism, e.g. one where google contacts the owner of the URL associated with the place.
Note that this wasn't spam, but a directed attack.
Sander Raaymakers, Sep 25 2012 on 1500wordmtu.com