I just got 49 MArk Mustermann registering as well. I am deleting them all.
Topic summary
Widespread bot signups and abandoned checkouts appear under names like “Mark Mustermann” and “John Smith,” often 35–100+ in minutes, across different cities. Many stores report this despite spam protection (Google reCAPTCHA) being enabled, cluttering stats and harming email metrics.
Suspected origin: several users traced phone numbers and addresses to Google offices and the “Googleplex,” some saw spikes after Google indexing/Shopping setup, and one noted counts roughly matching product variants. Others without Google Ads also saw it. The Google connection remains unconfirmed, and impact on Google Ads costs is unclear.
Impacts reported: newsletter failures and high bounce rates, increased email marketing bills (e.g., Constant Contact), ruined abandoned-cart recovery metrics, and general analytics noise.
Workarounds shared:
- Delete/suppress contacts in email tools (e.g., Klaviyo segments); also check external email services.
- In Shopify, delete recent customer records (last 30 days) but abandoned checkouts can only be archived.
- Enable/verify spam protection (reCAPTCHA: anti-bot challenge), consider bot-protection apps, blacklist IPs, and validate emails.
Shopify update: staff acknowledged the issue; developers are working on prevention. Guidance given to enable spam protection and consider apps. Users request a delete function for abandoned checkouts.
Status: ongoing, unresolved; awaiting further Shopify updates and clarity on Google involvement and ad spend effects.
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