Yahoo Local Basic Listing Verifications Failing
-
Hey everyone,
Over the last few weeks Yahoo Local's Basic Listings have been failing left and right for me. When working to verify a business listing, I have been trying the phone, snail mail and email verifications specifically, and am 100% sure I've been inputting the correct code, yet no matter how many attempts I make, I get the following error:
http://i.imgur.com/pJ7ggBx.jpg
This is for multiple accounts, not just a single instance. Seems Yahoo's just got an unfixed, prevalent bug. I've reached out to their Support for information, but they have been unresponsive.
Anyone else running into this issue?
-
We're actually in the middle of this problem and found a work around. If you get the invalid pin message:
- Login to your Yahoo biz dashboard, navigate to your client's listing and click edit.
- Make a quick edit (doesn't matter if you change it back before hitting submit).
- After hitting submit, it should take you right to the verification screen to either a) send a new pin, or b) enter your pin.
- Use the PIN you already received to verify the listing.
We've done this a couple times already, and it seems to be working.
-
I have been trying also to verify a business. I have had the give me a PIN 3 times to no avail. Each time I recieve a "The verification code you submitted was incorrect. Please enter the correct verification code." message. I have tried to copy and paste the pin as well as manually enter it. I have also tried logging out and back in. Nothing works and I'm getting frustrated as heck with their obvious glitches. To make things worse I read that yahoo won't provide support to their free listing service. What a scam.
-
Have only tried phone call verification, but experiencing same issue and error message. This happened on 6/11/14. Several clients, different accounts, same error message that the verification code is incorrect. Opted to use postcard method. Not expecting different results but wanted to at least try.
This has happened in the past with Yahoo. We've had postcard PINs repeatedly declined as "incorrect." This was around the time they were making changes to the Local Directory. Another problem we experienced during this time was that listings were not being saved under the dashboard. So every time we tried to claim a listing we had to go through the process of identifying and editing it.
There is definitely a strong correlation between Yahoo updates and Yahoo services being inoperable during these times.
-
Hi Jackson,
Glad to hear that. I do hope others will comment if they're having problems with Yahoo Local verification. Posts like yours make we wonder about bugs.
-
Thank you for the response, Miriam, that's very helpful!
-
Hi Jackson,
While I do see people reporting recent verification problems (https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130519195150AAFcNr8) I don't see anything about your specific error message anyplace I would normally look.
If you can't get the phone support to help you, a possible workaround is to ensure that you clients are listed on Yelp as Yelp is now distributing listings and reviews to Yahoo! Local. Here's more on this:
http://searchengineland.com/yahoo-goes-live-yelp-local-reviews-186354
I wonder if Yahoo is having wonky issues as of this new deal with Yelp. I haven't had a chance to test this, but I believe it should work out if the client is listed on Yelp that they will eventually appear on Yahoo! Kind of early days on this.
If anyone else in the community is experiencing the problem Jackson is describing, please chime in!
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
-
Google Listing Doesn't Appeare on 3Pack anymore
Hi, One of my GMB listing suddenly stopped ranking in the 3Pack Results. It used to always rank in 1st or 2nd position in the 3Pack results, Suddenly since 24th May it completely Flatlined, I don't know why but It doesn't show up in the results, or when I click see more. It completely vanished for that term locally. My Listing is based in Brisbane, QLD, Australia and it doesn't show up for that term in The Brisbane area. But when the Location info is Australia and not Brisbane, Australia it shows up again. I don't know what is the problem in this case... Any Suggestions will be much appreciated.
Local Listings | | Moxoms10 -
Does Google prioritise local domains?
I'm in Australia targeting Australian traffic. I often see US domains in the Google SERPS and wonder if that indicates an opportunity for local (Australian) domains to rank?
Local Listings | | Lazeh0 -
Local Listing - Service Business with Three Areas Served
A client of mine owns a business that is a service (i.e. they do not have a storefront). They service three major markets - Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, TN. When talking to the Google My Business team, they said we needed to set up only one listing based on where we were headquartered (which is Atlanta) and then list that we service the other markets so that it shows in the listing. So we have one business listing set up as a service but headquartered in Atlanta and show the service area as Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte. Does this seem correct? There is a lot of competition for them so looking to boost local search as much as possible. Thanks!
Local Listings | | maghanlinchpinsales0 -
Unique Local Citation Descriptions?
Hello! As SEO’s we have always understood that it’s best practice to craft a number of unique descriptions when submitting to local directories, rather than using one generic description across all directories. However, if we look at this logically; An average business owner (even if Google didn't exist) wouldn't bother to vary descriptions. They would have a generic brand template and simply submit the same description to each directory. What do you think? Is having unique descriptions a MUST for Local Business Citations, or is it ok to use one generic one? I look forward to hearing your thoughts, Lee.
Local Listings | | Webpresence0 -
How long have to wait for Google verification pin?
Its been 2 weeks we had asked request of Google maps for business local search. Still not received the pin. When can we expect the pin.
Local Listings | | ILDSEO0 -
Local seo citation tools
Hi I have been manually adding my details to local/national directories in order to help my ranking in my google places placing. It is a bit of a grind, and I am aware there are tools out there. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with any of them? I am UK based. Also I was ranking for "Liverpool Photographer" on google places for a couple of months and it brought in quite a bit of work, although I have since slipped back to about 15th, so out of the visible results. I am mainly a wedding photographer so my home page was optimised mainly for "liverpool wedding photographer" Although I hired an SEO company who changed the home page title to "liverpool photographer", I cannot remember if I was ranking on places for this keyword because of this change or I was already in the results before the changes were made. So my question is how Can I rank for "liverpool photographer" and "Liverpool wedding photographer" on a places result at the same time? I hope this makes sense. Best wishes. David.
Local Listings | | WallerD0 -
Google Local: When moving locations, is a new website/content needed?
I've effectively moved companies before, but I've heard that ranking locally in a competitive market after an address move it is necessary to redesign the entire website/content/domain as Google associates the old website/content/domain with the old location. Is this true? Does anyone have any direct experience with this? NOTE- I have updated citations across the internet and have regular social signals going to the new location, and this has been the case for almost 6 months now.
Local Listings | | mgordon0 -
Brand term for local showing wrong knowledge graph
It was discovered that when you search our brand and our city "alaska airlines seattle" that the brand knowledge graph shows a building at the University of Washington that is named after us as part of a sponsorship deal. This seems logical that it would do that since the building is branded Alaska Airlines and it is in Seattle. The problem is information listed would confuse customers that call the number posted and instead of our customer service they are getting the University. I admit I am not too familiar with local SEO so any help is greatly appreciated. r6GlDj9 wMZQnRB
Local Listings | | Shawn_Huber0