As Google continues to mature its Local Listings, it needs to screen businesses. Google Local search results still continue to be the "wild west" of online marketing with practically no means of monitoring it.
For an increasing amount of local businesses, a significant amount of their search traffic and conversions are generated from their Google Places listings. However, should the traffic be turned off, there is no email notification to advise the account holder that anything has happened until they log into their accounts. In fact, we found out a couple of days ago that iRISEmedia.com’s Google Places listing was "pending," and it would take "several weeks" to verify, but this number is arbitrary. After performing the changes stated later in this article, the listing went back to "Active:"
We looked at our listing and, at first glance, there did not seem to be anything wrong with it:
We implemented the following strategies to our own listing, would recommend the same for everyone else:
Ownership
Only business owners or authorized representatives may verify their business listings on Google, and this listing was done to represent our company.
Business Name
Google Places clearly states that the listing must represent ones business EXACTLY as it appears in the offline world. The name on Google should match the business name, as should the address, phone number and website. Do not attempt to manipulate search results by adding extraneous keywords or a description of ones business into the business name. Clients before have tried that tactic and have been rejected as a result.
The business is listed as "iRISEmedia.com" which matches the trade name registered with the province of Ontario. It does not include or attempt to manipulate search results by adding extra keywords, or description of the business into its business name. The only question could be that maybe the domain didn’t exactly match the business listing, which is likely to rule out a majority of businesses who are unable to secure their business name as a domain name.
Initially, we placed "iRISEmedia.com – Internet Marketing Agency," and changed the listing title to simply "iRISEmedia.com," which matches our business name.
What does the Google Places team monitor?
Google Places apparently monitors a variety of terms as well as formatting, which depending on the context, may or may not be appropriate. Google even admits that because of such ambiguity, they often require a manual review.
When can my Google Places listing be flagged?
The problem is that ones Google Places listing may be rejected at any point in the future whenever Google decides to change its listings rules. If one has optimized ones listing it’s only a matter of time when Google may consider ones business part of the problem and it will burn you from its Local Search results. Therefore it is necessary to keep up-to-date with any changes in Google’s rules.
How long will it take for my listing to be reviewed?
Google states that the review time for businesses is variable and that new tickets are generally reviewed within "4 weeks." While in some cases "within" could mean 24 hours, sometimes it could take the full 4 weeks. This is enough time to hurt a business to a point where it might make more sense to leverage Google’s most recent paid promoted places.
Since the rules remain unclear, it’s only a matter of time before ones listing is likely flagged for a review or rejected. Here is the link to lodge a support request: http://maps.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=maps_flagged_listings.
Are Landing Pages allowed?
In reading the guidelines it seems that one of the many reasons that might get ones Google Places listing flagged for a review is by using a specific landing page. This tactic has not been used but we are now considering it. Landing pages feature increased conversion rates and offer a better experience for consumers. Give it a try.
Google now has sheriffs patrolling Google Places!
Do NOT use keyword-friendly business names. An example would be instead of iRISEmedia, "SEO Agency Toronto | Internet Marketing Services | iRISEmedia.com" or even "iRISEmedia.com – Internet Marketing Agency"
1. Do NOT use names like 1.877.91.iRISE
2. Do NOT use URLs in names like BestBuy.com
3. Do NOT list if one has multiple locations
4. Do NOT use phone tracking numbers unless they are supplied by Google
What One Can Do
The only thing that can be done is to have patience and "play by Google’s rules" until they have their system ironed out. It is important to stay on top of any policy changes and make sure that proper adjustments are made to your listing.
Again, until this system is tamed, Google Local search results will continue to be the "wild west" of online marketing with practically no means of monitoring or managing it. Just because Google’s policy is to "do no evil" doesn’t mean Google won’t necessarily do good. All right, pardner?
Read more: http://www.irisemedia.com/blog/2010/07/27/the-wild-west-and-google-local-business-listings-googles-sheriffs-are-on-patrol.html#tb#ixzz0uu24wKro
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