The speaker, Bryan, discusses how he exposed a scam involving fake businesses on Google Maps and Google's failure to address the issue. He created fake listings, including one for the Secret Service, to demonstrate the vulnerability of the system. After presenting his findings to the Secret Service, they asked Google to fix the problem, but Google only temporarily shut off phone verifications for new businesses before turning it back on without making any changes. Bryan claims that Google is aware of the scam and is profiting from it by allowing scammers to pay for ads. He argues that this is a national security problem and a cancer that needs to be addressed. He encourages people to stop using Google for certain services and to raise awareness about the issue.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. A hacker recorded over 40 calls to the Secret Service and the FBI in one day without being detected.
2. The hacker, Bryan, created fake business listings on Google Maps, including a listing for the Secret Service with a different phone number.
3. Bryan deleted the real Secret Service's reviews and added his own fake reviews, causing the fake listing to appear at the top of search results.
4. Bryan recorded phone calls made to the fake Secret Service number, which forwarded to the real Secret Service.
5. Bryan met with the Secret Service and played back the recorded conversations, which led to the Secret Service closing the investigation.
6. Google shut off phone verifications for new businesses for six weeks, but then turned it back on without making any changes.
7. Bryan created another fake business listing, Edwards Snow Den, a snowboarding shop in the Oval Office, to demonstrate that the problem was still not fixed.
8. Scammers pay Google for ads that promise low prices for services, but then charge higher prices to consumers.
9. Google knows about the scam but has not taken action to stop it, and is making money from the ads.
10. There are hundreds of thousands of fake businesses across the country, and scammers pay for bulk reviews to game the system.
11. The scam is affecting small business owners and consumers, causing them to lose money and trust in online search results.
12. The speaker, Bryan, has written a book to raise awareness about the scam and its impact on businesses and consumers.