On of the long standing mysteries in managing a Local Business Center business listing for Google Maps has been:“Why does my listing not show up in the same category as my competitor?”. There has not been a topic more frequently raised in the Google Maps for Business Group and one that has been more evasively answered by the Google staff. (For an example of this saga see Google Maps Category Mystery Part I: The Problem.)
Categorization has provided fodder for philosophers & scientist since Linneaus first created binomial nomenclature as a means to understand and classify all living things in the late 1700′s. The battle lines have been drawn between the “lumpersâ€, those that think there should be fewer categories, and the “splittersâ€, those that think that there should be more categories. All categorization is an arbitrary human artifact that helps us to more easily understand the world around us. There is no one answer to the “correct†number of categories of any given group.
Business categorization is no different. Add the needs of commerce, the power of computer search and the vagaries of the multitude of ways that humans can search for things make the problem even more vexing. What seems like a simple question: What categories should be used to classify U.S. Businesses quickly becomes a complicated problem that has many solutions. The fact that Superpages has a full-time staff team devoted to Taxonomy Development shows just how complicated.
The SIC code (standard industrial classification) system has roughly 1,500 categories of US businesses. The newer NAICS used primarily for economic analysis has roughly 1200 categories. The SuperPages which has both an offline and online needs has approximately +/-8000 categories and iBegin uses approximately 10,500. Google on the other hand uses only 520 categories and this remains unchanged exactly one year later. (Go here for a complete list comparing Reuben’s 2007 findings and my 2008 results.)
Clearly Google has not added a team of taxonomists to deal with this problem of increasing their limited category sets to a more complete set. Google has not added even one category to their list in the past year despite their exhortation to make suggestions. They obviously fall into the category of “lumpers” in the taxonomy debate although probably due to financial or programing concerns more than philosophical ones. The problem of matching such a small number of categories to a much larger category obviously creates its own very difficult problems.
As we have seen, their category strategy has generated a great deal of dissatisfaction amongst the businesses attempting to control their business record in Google’s Local Business Center. Perhaps if we could just understand enough about how Google uses its categories we could answer the question: How can I get in the same category as my competitor? Obviously the problem is complicated, and Google’s most recent response “The Google Help Center is your friend” does little to shed light on this.
Given that Google gets most of its data from data providers the question that needed to be answered were two:
•Who is the primary provider of categories to Google Maps?
•How does Google relate its limited number of categories to the categories of its suppliers and the greater business world?
(more…)
Semmy’s Local Search Winner: Anatomy & Optimization Of A Local Business Profile – Chris Silver Smith, Search Engine Land. The official results are at the SEMMYs website. If you haven’t read this article yet, it well worth a read.
A Local Look At Microsoft’s Bid For Yahoo – Greg Sterling, SearchEngineLand
Microsoft: “We have not made decisions at that level, such as what to do with maps or mobile products. Every alternative is on the table. We will evaluate all those options and decide. We’ll pick whatever we think is the best options.”Â
Garmin announces the nuvifone -Joshua Topolsky, Engadget.com
In reporting on MacWorld Highlights: On The Future Of Mobile it struck me that the only category that Apple had not yet entered of mobile computing was the GPS market. This phone while still 6 months off has the feature set that might make for interesting mobile computing with a GPS focus.
One of the longstanding mysteries in the world of Google Maps is summed up in the question:“Why does my listing not show up in the same category as my competitor?”. There has not been a topic more frequently raised in the Maps Group and one that has been more evasively answered by the Google staff since the dawn of the Local Business Center.
Here is a exchange from July 12, 2006 in the Google Maps for Business Owners Group titled: Wrong Listing Categories that is typical of both the questions asked and the answers that Google has provided.
From: “Google Maps Guide”
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 16:45:43 -0700
Subject: Re: Wrong Listing Catagories
Hi Ian,
Some of the categories appearing on Maps are supplied by third-party data providers, and so they aren’t in the Local Business Center (LBC) yet.
But do use the category suggestion page in the LBC so that we can add it in the
future.
> On 7/12/06, i…@yorkselfcatering.fsnet.co.uk wrote:
> > I am an owner of a self catering holiday house in york and I have
> > added my listing to Maps. When i created my listing the only applicable
> > catagory was ‘Travel- bed and breakfast’ and ‘Travel-vacation rental’
> > neither of which are entirly appropriate. I have noticed other listings
> > that appear under a ‘Self catering York’ and wondered . How can access
> > that catagory? Thanks Ian
There have been literally hundreds of similar complaints and similar responses since the inception of the group. There is hardly a week that goes by when the question is not asked and answered multiple times in similar fashion. The only thing that has changed is the ever increasilngly frustrated tone of the person posing the question and possibly the name of the Map’s Guide that answers.
Here are the most recent postings dated Feb 2, 2008 with exactly the same questions and the same answer but 18 months later:
TOPIC: Editing my listing
============================================
== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sat, Feb 2 2008 9:34 am
From: “happypets@purtonvets.co.uk”
I have the same problem and the answer in the help section explains
why it happens but does not actually help you. All my competitors are
listed under a category I have no access to and to make things worse
if I type the most basic search term for my business i.e. VET (for
veterinarian or veterinary surgeon) it does not use googles available
categories but uses the unavailable category.
I have suggested the category my competitors use (veterinary surgeons
and practitioners) using the submition process but why would google
add that category when the have a perfectly good category already for
veterinarians. That leaves me out in the cold and unlisted despite
using google correctly.
Perhaps someone can address this issue rather than giving a
patronising answer about how friendly the help center is!
On Jan 30, 7:24 pm, “Maps Guide Sirene”
wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> Keep in mind that the Help Center has a lot of great insight to questions
> like these. Be sure to check out the following for information about
> Categories:http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=17105&
>
> Remember, the Help Center is your friend!
>
> S.
>
> On Jan 24, 2008 8:43 AM, sr…@bbmofic.com wrote:
>
>
>
> > I am a landscape contractor who builds water gardens. There are a
> > number of local “pondbuilders” listed in Google local Under the
> > category “ponds, waterfalls, water gardens, and Fountains”. When I go
> > to the Local business center to edit my business, I find no such
> > category (I’m listed under services). I’ve looked under every category
> > and don’t find anything remotely close. I feel like a dummy because
> > all my competitors seemed to have found how to have list. Can you
> > please help?
How could a problem that causes so many complaints go untended for 18 months? Why have the Map Guides (the names have changed but the answer remains the same) not provided a clear answer? Why have no obvious categories been added to the Local Business Center despite many suggestions? What is it about Google Maps LBC categories that makes this so difficult? And the obvious: Why can’t a business be in the same category as a competitor?
This is the first installment in a 3 part series. Next Google Maps Category Mystery Part II: Backgound.
