Different zoom levels of spots in Google Maps

[petrakraft]

Most roadmap imagery is available from zoom levels 0 to 18, for example. With zoom level 0 the whole world can be visible.

As we all know, the more we zoom in on Google Maps, the more spots (e.g. name of restaurants, hotels etc.) are visible. Some spots are visible "sooner" - with a lower zoom level, which is of course better for the company. Some companies are only visible with a very high zoom level.

If I have a highly branded company is the zoom level lower? Is this the answer for the different display?

[RobertFisher]

Obvious great source and good info from Mike. 
Thanks Petra,

[petrakraft]

Just wanted to add the answer I got from Mike Blumenthal:

The Place label is determined via algo based on popularity of a given feature. One way to increase the popularity is to increase the rank so that more actions are taken in relationship to the feature. The things that likely increase the popularity of a feature are the impressions actions (as seen in Maps) compared to others in the same market like how many times a listing is viewed in Maps, the Place page is viewed etc

At some point in the past it was possible to increase popularity of a feature by changing the popularity setting in MapMaker and having the change approved by an editor. That feature has been removed (at least for most editors).

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Petra,

As I suspected, the feedback I received amounted to a guess that it is an algo-driven thing. This just hasn't been documented, as far as I know. Place Labels are seen by many, understood by a few, but documented by a very few people. Sorry not to be able to quote you anything solid on this. If you're researching the issue and reach any strong theories or conclusions, I'm sure people would be interested in reading it.

Miriam

[RobertFisher]

Petra,

I agree on your last statement. On the restaurant I mentioned, I zoomed in and out later in the day just trying different ways of looking at it and found that if I started at zero, and continued to zoom out, on the third level, the restaurant was there, but on the fourth it disappeared. (the pin stayed, the places label disappeared). Then, on the fifth it miraculously reappeared only to disappear on the sixth. So, something appears to be at play regarding the buildings around a given location and how they are possibly labeled or geographically identified along with use of polygon for shape, etc.

The link that Miriam provided is a great one and I went back to it on her reminder (second thank you to you Miriam for that link). I remembered the mention of the more you edit (approve other's edits) the faster your listing would get places labels. It does seem to work based on our experience anecdotally, but we have not measured it in any way. Again, even that could be a factor in what we are seeing with where labels appear or disappear depending on the distance zoomed in or out.

Thanks for the very cool question...

Robert

[petrakraft]

Hi Robert,

thank you for your detailed answer.
Google Map Maker is already on my to-do list :-).

Your assumption regarding verified listing in combination with Place Labels shown further zoomed in or out is not 100% conform - as far as I could see it.

Greetings

Petra

[petrakraft]

Hi Miriam,

thank you for your help and your links.
Yes, I meant Place Labels.
In the Google Support Link they wrote: "The place labels shown on Google Maps are determined algorithmically based on a large number of factors".
So I guess the zoom level as well has to deal with those algorithmically determinations.

But it would be great if you could give further feedback from you local specialists.

Have a nice day.

Petra

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Petra,

I agree with Robert. This is one of the most interesting questions I've seen this week, and one for which I don't have an answer because I've not seen it documented. I've put a question out to a couple of Local SEOs, but I'm not sure if I'll get feedback - again, because I've not seen this issue documented.

One thing I wanted to ask...are you referring simply to the teardrop pins or do you mean Place Labels (the little grey icons of forks/spoons, etc.)? If the latter, an interesting study was done of this in 2 parts awhile back:

http://www.iexposure.com/2011/06/16/how-to-get-a-google-places-label

http://www.iexposure.com/2011/07/26/how-to-get-a-google-places-label-part-2-update

The official Google page for Place Labels is here, and mentions zooming into a 'certain', but unspecified, level:

http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=174115

However, if we're just talking about pins here, I'm sorry that I don't have a trusted resource to send you to. There could be a number of factors at play, including distance to centroid, authority of the listing, etc. I will come back if I get any feedback from my pals in Local. It really is a good question.

[RobertFisher]

Petra,

You get the internationally recognized ?Hmmmmmm? award this morning.

That means when many people see your question they will say to themselves, "Hmmmmmm?"!!

I wish I had a perfect answer for this, but I believe there are actually multiple variables at play here. For those who enjoy learning and/or improving the web, Google MapMaker is a great place to start. This link goes to MapMaker's add a Place page. (those "spots" are called...Places and the icon that is an upside down teardrop - often with a letter in it - is a Marker).

Anyone can edit Google Maps via MapMaker. (All edits are reviewed by others and you cannot review your own edits). One thing you can do is change the shape of something on a map like an area (e.g. a park, stream, etc) or a building. If an editor has used the line drawing feature to change the shape of a feature, that could potentially affect what shows at a given level of zoom. IMO, another thing that could affect what does or does not show at given levels of zoom would be how often that place is searched for, linked to, and/or clicked on. Also, has it been edited by outside editors and then approved? If it has, I would think that site would show more at broader zoom levels than a similar business which had not been edited, especially if there are a lot of places in that given area.

One I tested that proved out: With similar businesses, where one has verified the listing and one has not, the verified listing will stay longer as you zoom further out. (Even with restaurants where the non verified had over 500 reviews and the verified had less than 100 reviews, the verified stayed while the other disappeared).

You also provided me a new mechanism for determining who is or is not an owner verified listing. Thanks!!!

I hope this helped and I urge all to explore Google Map Maker as it really is a COOL TOOL!!

All the Best,

Robert