Unit # No Longer Showing On Google Places

[kyegrace]

We've noticed that the unit # is no longer showing on a clients Places profile page. Any thoughts on why and if relevant to rankings?

Places page - https://skitch.com/kyegrace/8fimr/vuppie-real-estate-team

or

http://maps.google.ca/maps/place?hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4GGNI_en-GBCA461CA461&gs_upl=&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=641&wrapid=tlif133037839755610&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=realtor&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=realtor&hnear=0x548673f143a94fb3:0xbb9196ea9b81f38b,Vancouver,+BC&cid=5594900399034912659&ei=o_ZLT4XHM6ObiQKZnbCdDw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=placepage-link&resnum=8&ved=0CIMBEOIJMAc

and as it appears in the backend https://skitch.com/kyegrace/8fimk/google-places-analytics

Any insight greatly appreciated!

[JoeYoungblood]

From Chris Silversmith on Twitter:

Google Places tries to normalize addresses to display. Suite #s often not necessry to find locations so they often leave out.

https://twitter.com/#!/si1very/status/183276965158060033

[MiriamEllis]

Hello Kye,

So glad this has gotten you off to a good start.

I should add, if you do end up needing to go start a Google forum thread on this....big news today. Google has just launched their NEW forum:

http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!forum/maps

All local SEOs and local business owners: update your bookmarks!

Miriam

[kyegrace]

Awesome! Thanks for the great response. I'll dive into it in more depth shortly but I think you have likely covered off a ton of great avenues.

I'll let you know what I find with each of your suggestions and/or questions.

Thanks again!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Kye,

Thanks so much for coming to Q&A with your question. I'm the Local SEO Associate here in the forum and will do my best to help you.

Just to confirm, I am seeing in your screenshots and link 2 variants of your address:

805 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K1 (604) 220-7490 ‎

507-805 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K1 (604) 220-7490 ‎

I had to tap a Canadian colleague on the shoulder to confirm that this order of 507-805 is a typical format in Canada (here in the US, suite numbers always come at the end of the street address - never at the beginning). So that seems typical.

Next, in an attempt to troubleshoot this, I looked your business up on YellowPages.ca as they are Canada's major local data provider. I searched for 'Vuppie Real Estate Team Vancouver BC' but could not find your company listed there. So, that's a dead end, but also a useful note to you that your company should probably get listed there as Google Places relies heavily on that source in your country for accuracy and confirmation of data.

Next, I searched Google Maps for your phone number. It signals that there are 8 listings with that address, but , rather annoyingly, when I click the link to show me what they are, it won't show me. Can you account for 8 listings for the phone number - perhaps 1 for the office and 1 for 7 distinct partners in the realty office?

A G Maps search for your business is only turning up your one listing, so perhaps that mention of 8 listings is nonsense.

Next, I did an address search within maps for your address of 805 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K1

Looks like there are a ton of businesses at this address. I see:

Ainsworth Geoffrey Dr‎ -Balevi Ben Dr‎ -Bergman James H Dr‎ -2 reviewsBuffets Vancouver‎ -12 reviewsDr. Belinda Weltman - ClearView Orthodontics‎ -Dr. E. Dwayne Karateew‎ -1 reviewIntegral Dental Lab‎ -Millenaar Diederik W Dr‎ -Pharmasave‎ -Platinum Denture Clinic‎ -1 reviewRoss William H Dr‎ -Taylor & Blair Personal Injury Lawyers‎ -TD Bank Financial Group‎ -3 reviewsTony's Coffee‎ -1 reviewVancouver Dental Spa‎ -2 reviewsVancouver Dentist Dr Ara Elmajian & Assoc.‎ -Vancouver Dentist on Broadway Dr. B Kwoo‎ -3 reviewsVancouver Hearing Centre‎ -Vuppie Real Estate Team‎ -9 reviewsWillow Dental Care Vancouver‎ -10 reviewsOut of curiosity, I began mousing over these and saw that about 8/10 of the do not have suite numbers/unit numbers of any kind attached to the address. Only a few do. So that's interesting. Why is Google recognizing only a small portion of suite #s for all of these businesses? Is it because the business owners didn't realize they needed to list a suite number to differentiate themselves from other occupants of the building or because, as is the case with your listing, the number has abruptly dropped out of sight? Don't have an answer to this, but it's a good question.

Now, when an issue like this occurs, I typically run a quick search of the Google Places Help Forum to discover if there is a rash of reporting of a similar error. Again, Google drops the ball as the functionality of their search tool is down. This is the case at least 50% of the time with what should be the most useful tool for searching for common current issues.

This leaves me with two comments that may be of some or no relevance to what you are experiencing:

1. In the United States last week, a bunch of us saw our client's addresses which were formerly listed with Suite 205 or what have you change in formatting to #205. This was remarked on and we wondered if Google was experimenting with a change of the way they are handling suite numbers. I wonder if something similar could be going on in Canada and if the number has gone missing in action only temporarily? You didn't mention when this change occurred.

2. The other recent suite-number-type news is that Google just updated their Google Places Quality Guidelines to state that if you have a suite number, it needs to be listed in the second line of the address. This was a big change, and I bet many business owners have no knowledge of it. Here is a link to the guidelines where you can read the language yourself:

http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528

I find myself wondering what would happen if you edited your listing to include the suite number in the second address line. It might trigger re-verification which would be a pain in the neck. I wonder, too, about the fact that because it is common in Canada for such numbers to come first, your updated listing would then look funny to Canadians. So, the question really is - is it worth it to do this?

My questions for you are:

• Have you noticed any drop in rankings?

• How old is the listing?

• Do you know when this change actually happened?

My one concern, really, is that the listing may become merged with any of all those other businesses showing at this address which are not differentiated by a suite number. Do your reviews look okay? Anything there that shouldn't be?

My Advice To You:

Open a thread at the Google Places Help Forum on this topic and see if you can get Vanessa to reply to it. It's a very good question and my normal methods of troubleshooting have not yielded any reliable clues. You should point out that a number of the businesses at your address are also not showing a suite number at this point and that you are concerned about a) merging and b) clients not knowing which suite to visit when they come to what must be a very busy building.

On a final side note, Kye, I would recommend an edit of your Places description. It's not considered a best practie to put geographic info in your description...Google might view it as spammy. The description currently reads:

Pete Shpak is a Top Vancouver BC Realtor/Real Estate Agent focusing on Condo and Home sales in False Creek, Yaletown, Kitsilano, Fairview, Coal Harbour, Downtown, Gastown, West End & Lower Lonsdale

I'd edit that.

Please, feel free to return to this thread with further info/questions.

Miriam