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Hi Taysir.

I can't answer your question - because I'm wondering the same thing!  I am curious though - how did you find out that maps traffic was being tagged as direct traffic?

We've been using trackable URL's to track Google My Business visits in analytics for years.
Example: ?utm_source=GoogleLocal&utm_medium=example&utm_campaign=example

In the past month I've noticed Google showing a redirect notice on any listing with a trackable URL.  It happened for a day or so a few weeks ago - and then it's been a more permanent situation since this past week.

Redirect Notice
The previous page is sending you to:  www.example.com
If you do not want to visit that page, you can return to the previous page.

I'm fine with removing the trackable URL's - however - I'm not sure how to track maps visits via analytics without using them.  I can't find any updated information on options.  The last post on moz was in 2011 (http://moz.com/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics).  The alternate tactics in that post no longer work.

So my question is:
- How do I track Google Maps (My Business) visits through analytics without using tracking URLs?

My site received a Google penalty for having inbound links from blog posts with over-optimized ("spammy") anchor text.  I spent months getting these links removed.

Yesterday - I received a link deletion request from a site that my site had linked out to (three links via keyword anchor text relevant to their company) in a blog post.

The "unnatural link" penalty still hasn't been removed from my site.

My question is:  Does the penalty work both ways?  For having inbound "unnatural" links ... AND for having outbound "unnatural" links?

I've been experiencing connection time out issues on and off for the last 2 months. Also, when I can get logged in, I often run into errors trying to delete a listing or update a listing. Sometimes it is a time-out error again and sometimes it just says it cannot process my request at this time. Another frustrating issue is it takes 2 months for pending listings to be published.