When you find out, let me know!

Seriously.  Google will not remove a direct competitor’s (or any other) Sponsored Ad in a Google Maps business listing because this is a free service.  Google creates and displays business listings to place advertising within, and generate revenue.

I ran into this request in the Google Maps Help Forum and wanted to share the response from Google Support team member, Cecelia:

J.A.M.: There is a sponsor listed under my business information and map which I do not want to be associated with.  Is there a way to have this sponsor removed from my listing page?

Maps Guide Cecelia: Hi J.A.M, thank you for the post.  The sponsored results you see under your listing are part of Google’s AdWords program.  These users have created pay per click campaigns with AdWords and are bidding on specific keywords that are relevant to their business.  AdWords ads can run on Google Maps as part of Google’s Search Partners Network.

At this time there is not a way to exclude specific advertisers from your listing.  AdWords has extensive policies and guidelines around user experience and content.  The ads that show under your listing will be held to these standards.  If you are concerned that a sponsor is not following AdWords policies, you can asked that the ad be reviewed by emailing the AdWords team with the link below.

http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=8206

You too can run pay per click campaigns with AdWords, and your ads could also show on Local Business listings.  Learn more about running AdWords at adwords.google.com.

Hope this gives a bit more insight!  Also, I’ve included a link to the AdWords policy page as a reference.

Cecelia