Google Warns Local Businesses: You Have 3 Weeks to Save Your Places Listing
-
Has anyone heard anything about this Google warning that was supposedly sent to some Google Place owners recently.
The message says:
We are making some changes to Google Places for Business and Google Maps so we can continue providing people with the best experience when they're looking for local businesses. As part of this process, we're asking business owners to review and confirm some of the information in their Google Places accounts so we can keep showing it to Google users. We know this will be a few extra steps for merchants, and we apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your time.
We have sent business owners affected by these changes an email entitled "Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places Listing". Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2327744/Google-Warns-Local-Businesses-You-Have-3-Weeks-to-Save-Your-Places-Listing
I haven't found much other information in the SEO community but I just wanted to see if anyone has actually received this notice or not?
Someone suggested it may just be a test in Australia/Austria. (Not sure which one it is as the comment in the above list references both countries)
Thanks for any information you have on this topic.
-
It's definitely us down under here in Australia.
The thing I would recommend is getting started on reconfirming your categories and your listing addresses now. Google has started heavily validating categories and making sure only one of each type of business is at an address (is it possible to have 8 photographers in one building? Sure, but not likely.)
Just review things now, while you have the chance. We're re-validating a LOT of clients and it's a lot of work.
-
Hi Samantha,
It was posted on a Google forum Feb 2nd of some users experiencing this
Picked up by SERoundtable on the 6th, and then by others.
However, I haven't seen anything but this instance of it. It might be rolled out to other areas possibly.
Hope this helps
-
I had heard this recently as well and saw the post you reference. Not sure if it was there when you saw the post, but there is a comment from someone who claims to have spoken with a Google rep and confirmed that is is only in Australie for now.
Ken
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does having a Google My Business website help my local seo?
Everybody says it's important to put as much information as you can into your Google My Business listing. I'm wondering if it helps to take Google up on it's offer to give you a free website in addition to the website I already have of my own.
Reviews and Ratings | | KenLapp1 -
Experience Getting Google Reviews Restored?
Does anyone have any experience or know anyone with experience getting google reviews restored? We have no technical issues with our Google business pages/locations, but for some reason, they deleted some of our recent reviews. These reviews were not at our location or review station or anything like that. A couple of the profiles were very new accounts, and a couple of the users posted reviews for a few locations, however, they were legitimate reviews that they did on their own. I was hoping someone had an idea of what to do to appeal to Google or if there was a form to fill out to get our reviews restored. Thanks, Ruben
Reviews and Ratings | | KempRugeLawGroup1 -
What types of businesses does Google display reviews in SERP for?
In just the last week, it seems like Google has removed reviews for businesses in our industry (staffing), which is unfortunate since we've been working hard for those reviews. The effect has been to be completely left off the local google business results. One week, we're at the top of the business reviews with our location prominently featured on the map and the next, we aren't even listed. It seems like there must be list of industries in which Google takes reviews into account (or if they do, then at least displays the reviews in the results). For us, up until last week, if you searched "temp agencies", these reviews were included in SERP. Now, nothing. Is this fairly normal behavior for Google?
Reviews and Ratings | | Parker8180 -
Google's knowledge graph carousel
Hi all, my business is on Google's knowledge graph carousel but it hasn't sourced any of the images I've provided. I've set up a G+ & YouTube account. I've added images to our wiki page and added photos to Google for our business, but to no avail. Any ideas? Cheers all.
Reviews and Ratings | | SwanseaMedicine0 -
Local Business: Chiropractic Services & Massage Services - HOW TO BRAND
Hello! I have a client who has a chiropractic business and has started offering massage services. Client has registered a DBA For the massage component of the business. Client doesn't want to cross contaminate reviews and doesn't know whether or not he should brand the two businesses in one name or separately. Currently client has inconsistent business listings for the business and is unsure of the proper way to brand and optimize for local search. Example would be: Chiropractic AAAA Dr. John B - Chiropractic AAAA Massage BODI Chiropractic AAAA & Massage BODI Background info: Main business is one entity and second is registered as DBA. Right now, Chiropractor is a sole practitioner. in the past has had other chiropractors working in the office. Has only 1 website promoting both services Both operate out of the same location. What is the best way to optimize for local search for both services and what is the best way to brand without cross contaminating reviews online. If recommendation is to target local search separately for the services, should the client has 2 websites since these services target 2 different industries. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Reviews and Ratings | | BrentV0 -
Google Plus Reviews
Hi, I am working with a brick and motor store and trying to figure out the best ways to obtain Google plus reviews. Personally speaking I think the best way to receive a review is at checkout. Checkout can take about 10-15 min and would be a great time to ask for a review. However, I run into a problem with logistics in obtaining the review and needed help deciding which option to choose or if another option existed? Option: 1. Ask the customer to give a review on our companies Google account? However, this leads to multiple reviews from a single entity, which I would only assume is not a correct way to obtain reviews. 2. Ask the customer to sign in to their Google account. This can be a little invasive and I do not want to turn the customer away from a sale. Am I missing another alternative? Any help would be great, thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | Mike.NW0 -
Using structured data for reviews - for negative or warnings.
We all use review markup today and we use it linearly as only a vote up or down. My question is around a site that will judge the negative impacts of given chemicals introduced into certain waterways. (Sorry, I must protect the client so I cannot give out all the info; I hope this is enough for a reasonable understanding.) Is there anyone who has ever used or is aware of any markup that does not result in a star? So, if we use the current system, we end up where a bad chemical gets a ton of single stars. In essence what we are measuring is degrees of Positive. With four stars there is no zero positive, but 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% (Ok unless it is aggregated). I want to be able to show degrees of negative and obviously stars would be confusing. So, have a symbol that connotes a negative (skull and crossbones, X, !!, etc.) and the more of these someone marks shows more displeasure or more danger. Are there any ideas for this or any occurrences already on the Internet you may be aware of? Preference would be to be able to at some point have search engines show them as snippets. Thanks to all you Mozzers, Robert
Reviews and Ratings | | RobertFisher0 -
How to get star ratings from Google Places to show up for my site in the SERP
Hi my cottage has star ratings in Google places, is there a way to show them under my sites in the google results? Thanks for any advice UKAEds8
Reviews and Ratings | | PottyScotty0