Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Places.SinglePlatform.com "Menu" links on your GMB listing?
-
I just experienced this and after lots of frustration was able to figure out how it happened and how to fix it (keep reading).
**HOW: **So apparently Google did a deal with Constant Contact which owns Singleplatform.com that allows them to publish edits to ANY local business and they have used this to SPAM entire categories of local businesses by adding in a "Appointments" and/or "Menu" link to the Google My Business listing for search/maps and they have done it in such a way that it is extremely difficult to remove/fix. (NOTE: they are not listed in Google's list of 3rd parties which automatically add info to your listing....https://www.google.com/maps/reserve/partners)
**THE PROBLEM: You have a link to a menu or appointment page that you did not add and can not edit. **The options for setting a URL for "Menu" and/or "Appointment" (and a few others https://support.google.com/business/answer/6218037) are tied to the Primary Category set on your GMB listing and are only available to certain categories.
FIXING: You would think if you are a verified owner of your GMB listing, it would be simple - but Google/SInglePlatform.com have gone to great lengths to make it more difficult....
Step 1 - Make sure you are a verified owner of GMB listing
Step 2 - Change your Primary category on the business to one of the categories which supports the link in question (no definitive list, but I know setting Primary to "Restaurant" will get you Menu and "Interior Designer" will get you an Appointment link)
Step 3 - Save the new category
Step 4 - Now you will have the option under your "URLs" section of GMB listing.
Step 5 - Change the URL from the SPAMMY link to a relevant page you control and Save
Step 6 - Change Primary Category back to what you want.
-
How did this all play out for you guys?
I am late to the party but am just now experiencing this for the first time with an HVAC client. In the clients knowledge graph on Google it shows:
"Products and Services: places.singleplatform.com"
I tried what was explained in the original post but it appears some things have changed in GMB since Aug. 2018. Imagine that
Any help on getting this link removed would be greatly appreciated!
-
First off, this is a great and useful tip. Thank you for sharing. We ran into this issue today for our HVAC client. I followed the steps, but it looks like Google will take three days to verify the change. Did anyone else encounter this? If so, does the spammy link disappear after three days?
-
Just a thank-you for sharing your experience and tips with the community, Arowland! Much appreciated! Very creative workaround you've come up with. Neat.
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
-
GMB Account Fallen Off Rankings in past 24 hours
My map pack presence has fallen off the face of the earth over the last 24 hours. My location The Escape Game Chicago was top 3 yesterday for 'escape room chicago' and now they only show up when searching for the exact brand name. What's weirder is I still rank #1 organically for that keyword.I have looked through the account, nothing seems to be totally amiss. Google has not notified me of any issues or penalties. I have no clue what happened.Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide some insight as to how I can recover my ranking?
Local Listings | | danieldaher0 -
Former tenant Google Map listing still displays
Our tenant closed their business and we now occupy the address, their Google map still displays, albeit "Permanently Closed" along with ours at the same address. I can't seem to get it removed, it's been 2 years. Help 🙂
Local Listings | | KevnJr0 -
Where does the small description on a business listing come from in google maps?
Hi All, Simple question, but I'm struggling to find the answer, so I hope someone is able to help. The business I run is Oakdene Forest Park; Google Maps URL: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oakdene™+Forest+Park/@50.8114372,-1.8598721,18z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!2sOakdene™+Forest+Park!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842!3m4!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842?hl=en Under the business name, it has a small description and for the life of me I don't know where Google is getting it from because a part of it is wrong. It looks like this: Oakdene™ Forest Park Rural Resort with Entertainment & a Spa I would like to remove the term 'Rural Resort' but where do I find it?? Thanks in advance for your help.
Local Listings | | Shorefield_Holidays0 -
For Google's Structured Data, should I change my listings from Product schema to Local Business schema?
I was reading Google's Structured Data spec, and I'm considering changing the schema of our listing pages from the Product schema to the Local Business schema. Is this a good idea? To give you a little more info, the pages that I'm classifying are listings for physical spaces that our website rents out for activities, such as meetings. Here's an example of a listing: https://www.peerspace.com/pages/listings/550ddcde2f352d0800fc186b Our goal is to add the proper schema.org tags to the page so that our spaces show up in local searches, such as "meeting space in San Francisco." The problem is that when we add location microdata (addressLocality, addressRegion, etc.) to our current "Product" schema, Google tells us that "Products" can't have a location. However, we aren't quite a "Local Business" either, since we don't publicly share our space's street addresses—only the space's neighborhood/city/state for privacy reasons. As a result, we get an error from Google's Structured Data Tool as a "Local Business" page because "streetAddress" is required for Local Businesses. Should we switch to the Local Business schema anyway, even though we get structured data errors for streetAddress? Or is it better not to include the location information in the microdata so that we don't have errors? Does Google penalize you for incomplete tags? Any input is appreciated!
Local Listings | | stuartstein0 -
"Duplicate" on Google Local - Attorney and Business Listing
For our law firm, we have a Google Local listing for the firm (Riddell Law LLC). Google also created a local listing for one of the attorneys (Riddell) (we didn't create it, but are in the process of verifying it). Both listings are at the same address. Moz Local says these are "duplicates" - is that true? Would Google penalize us for this? I am not sure how to fix it - both the individual attorney and the business are in fact at the same address. If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!!
Local Listings | | bpurdue0 -
Scoot local links
I've been approached from Scoot trying to sell me their local directory links.
Local Listings | | LaurenGT
Its a one-off price of around £80 to be listed on all of their 500+ directories and £20 a month to be able to do any changes and to keep the web links active.
The list of the directories are here - http://submittrackz.scoot.co.uk/directories The question is, are the links of much benefit for local seo?
I was thinking of reselling this so the cost is not the problem so much, its just the quality of the links in question.
Thanks
Dave0 -
Yext Listings: Why don't I see new inbound links?
The company I work for recently switched over to Yext to manage the local listings for our 275+ locations. Our listings have now been live with Yext for over 3 weeks and I'm wondering A. when should I expect to see new inbound links from these yext listings? and B. In what ways can I expedite the process? I've already re-crawled our site, but is there anything else I can do? This is my first experience with Yext so any thoughts or suggests about how to get the most out of the product would also be appreciated. Thanks,
Local Listings | | AaronPC0 -
How to remove a former business location from Google Places?
I've received a strange response from Google Places on local listings for a home builder. Google's rep suggested that we not list the new home sales center (a model home) since at some point it will change from being a business listing to a residential listing. That is just wrong. It will be a place of business for the next 3 years and then will flip to being a private residence. These days it is uncommon, but not that rare to turn over ownership from public to private or vice versa (A residence becoming a law or other commercial establishment. Or a whole office building becoming condos.) The issue is, when it does happen, how do we get Google and others to recognize that a business is no longer a business location? I've had trouble bringing down the address of former former model home sales centers on Google Places much to the chagrin of the residents.
Local Listings | | BlairKuhnen0
