Google Maps Reviews Disappearing - So Where is the best place to host them now?
-
I think a lot of people are having this problem. You spend years receiving great reviews on Google Places only to have the wiped out for no reason.
That being the case what 3rd party sites do you all suggest that client reviews be hosted besides your website?
Thoughts?
-
Good question. Lets make sure you have the right information and you understand what is happening before you come up with a strategy to fix it.........there isnt an easy way to work with traditional third party review sites because of the issue google had with yelp and others....so it has created a small void in the marketplace. You have to build the history back up with google places and hotpot and google maps reviews....THAT IS YOUR BEST OPTION. Don't forget about the other third party review sites, because everyone believes that google is still using that info for relevancy and quality score....
Here is feedback from Google on why they were removed and some additional thoughts on why no third party reviews can really make a huge impact on building the seo value back up.........
The official reason the changes were made is that Google has said it wanted to remove the "spammy reviews". Here is googles official response. There is a detailed technical response posting on googles site. here is the link....
http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2445832
Here is what they said:
"You may have seen reviews suddenly disappear from your listing. A few reasons why that may be the case:
- Reviews from third-party websites are no longer displayed on Google Places listings. Below the reviews by Google users, we may link “Reviews around the web” on third-party sites.
- Reviews are removed from Google Maps because they exhibit spammy behavior. We can't share specifics about what signals we use, but our goal is to provide end-users with high-quality information they can trust and use that info to make informed decisions. We also remove reviews that violate our content policy guidelines. We know that sometimes our algorithms may flag and remove legitimate reviews in our effort to combat abuse, but believe that overall, these measures are helping to ensure that the reviews appearing on Place pages are authentic, relevant and useful. Here's our reviews posting guidelines and policy: http://goo.gl/LtFCS
- We have data spread across multiple databases, and we bring all that information together to create your local listing. Reviews can sometimes be dropped from Place pages when we’re trying to reconcile all that information. As we mentioned at the beginning of this note: This is a known issue, and we are working to make it better.
- Occasionally, there is a technical issue that causes Place page reviews to drop from Google Maps for a short period of time (a few days) and then reappear on your listing. This happens every several weeks, when we push out a giant housecleaning update to our listings database. Again, this is a known issue, and we are working to make it better."
That is what google posted. Now the unofficial explanation is they had disagreements with several review sites like Yelp where they wanted free access to all the review content and then would basically undermine yelps positioning in search by posting yelps and other review sites info....yelp said no way. They decided to stop taking the info from third party sites.
To solve your problem you have to make sure you have solid google places, hotpot and maps reviews and citations.....
Hope this helps.
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
-
Can this make one's local listing vanish from Google local search?
Hi All, Does anyone know if selecting "Yes, this business serves customers at their locations" under "service areas and location settings" in Google Places can cause a business's listing to disappear from Google local search? My interior designer client has a bricks-and-mortar location, was ranking at about #20 for "interior designer" in Portland, and now has dropped from local search. I had "No, all customers come to the business location" selected previously. In the past week, before the vanishing, I made these changes: 1. changed the service area to "Yes, this business serves customers at their locations", 2. removed "Portland" from the description in Google Places, and 3. submitted maybe two dozen directory listings to high DA sites (using Whitespark as the tool for determining where to post). Thanks everyone! Zack
Image & Video Optimization | | HammerandHand0 -
Google Places Verification
Sometimes you can verify and claim a Google Places listing via phone, other times they will only send a post card. ANy reason why? Is it lack of trust to verify via phone or old dulpicate listings? Post card is just so unreliable. ANy way to "force" a phone verification?
Image & Video Optimization | | Reportcard0 -
Google Places email question
Hi Mozzers- I just watched the recent Webinar on Google Places optimization. Unfortunately I missed the live broadcast. I have a couple of questions: It was advised to use an email at the domain for claiming the listing. What about a Gmail address with the company's name in the address? I try to use an email at the domain, but sometimes I'm not able to get one setup. One of my clients provides a service where clients don't necessarily have to come to their location. I used the radius option within maps but they are still not coming up in other locations. I should note that they have very good visibility in the metro area where there is more competition. Some of their competition is showing up for lots of locations and they have offices in one location. Tips? Thanks in advance! LHC
Image & Video Optimization | | lhc670 -
Does each listing in Google plcaes need a seperate URL?
Hi We have a client who has several car dealership fracnhises located located across two suburbs - so we are creating a places listing for each (with a separate address and phone number). My questions is should each location also have a separate URL (the dealership only has one website covering all locations). The Google guidelines state that you must; Website & Phone: Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location. Use a local phone number instead of a call centre number whenever possible. Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or “refer” users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business. Really appreciate any feedback!
Image & Video Optimization | | E2E0 -
Does adding the city to your business name in a Places page help or harm Local SEO?
Hi, All! Another local SEO question... For one of our clients, the title on their Place page is <official business="" name=""><city>. Example: John's Sporting Goods Detroit. Now, most citations will say "John's Sporting Goods." Is having "Detroit" as part of the business name in Places problematic (NAP inconsistency) and we should remove it, or is it helpful for ranking for "sporting goods detroit" or is it neither?</city></official> Thanks! Aviva
Image & Video Optimization | | debi_zyx0 -
Whats is going on with Google Places?
I know they recently started rolling out their update of their Places pages but a lot of people, including myself are having problems such as missing descriptions, hours, categories (not updated), etc. Anyone have any insight into when we might expect these issues to be corrected? As far as I can tell Google has not really addressed the problem whatsoever. Their forum is packed with people complaining but so far so they have remained quiet. Thanks!
Image & Video Optimization | | PMC-3120870 -
Street name or Highway number- which is best ?
In Google places my address shows up in two different ways. I want to establish a consistent way of listing my business, but how do I determine what's best at this point? My listings now show up as the street name: "122 Maple Street" and in other listings as the Route number: "122 Route 44 " The locals all know this street as Maple Street, but we are a tourist business and tourists probably know the Rt. # better. Is there a systematic way I can determine which is going to be the best way to list this? I have the same question about variations like using Rt. or St. versus Route or Street. Thanks Tio
Image & Video Optimization | | stephenfishman0 -
Where to host viral campaign content?
I'm about to launch a series of viral videos for a growing UK brand, in which the viewer will have control of the storyline (e.g. tippex bear http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1BqJ4S2M). It will start with one theme (1 main 'landing page' video with a series of 'ending' videos). If successful, there will be more themes added in the same format (on-going campaigns). Each campaign will feature high volume niche keywords and will hopefully appear in the SERPs. The keywords will not compete directly with the main branded website but there will be some relevance. My question is, where is the best place to host the content? YouTube = max exposure, easier to get vid preview into SERPs but links to site are nofollow? must pay for customised page functionality - see this link http://www.quora.com/How-did-they-make-the-Tipp-ex-Interactive-YouTube-video **Microsite **= keyword rich domain for each theme with links to main site? more difficult to rank with new domains? Main website = (DA=44) easier to rank using existing domain, helps increase DA with new linkbait? Use video sitemap to appear in SERPs Blog = as above (blog hosted on main domain), but keeps main site focussed on core keywords I assume YouTube will achieve best reach/buzz, but would I miss out on any SEO benefits? Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | Tman31