Comments on: Place Pages Sporting New Navigation Features http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/ Developing Knowledge about Local Search Sun, 19 May 2013 05:59:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549639 Mike Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:23:00 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549639 @Kathy

Great answer and I agree with you. It also points out that while a business needs to “look sharp” whereever they are, they in the end do not control 3rd party resources. That means that whether it is Google or Facebook, these marketing efforts need to support not replace investments in core assets.

]]> By: Kathy Long http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549637 Kathy Long Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:45:45 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549637 As SEOs or business owners we may not like the easy access to competitors, but this is a plus for shoppers.

How should SEOs, internet marketers and business owners respond?

As I’ve always said, they need to “chase customers, not rank.” So, since your Place page is now in a line-up where you are being compared side by side with your competitor, you need to be extra diligent in making yours and your business stand out from the pack, the same as you would have to do if you had a direct competitor located around the corner from you. It’s getting back to old-fashioned marketing where being the first one on the block isn’t so important. It’s being the best that counts.

]]> By: Jim Rudnick http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549634 Jim Rudnick Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:11:31 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549634 I stand corrected…..this new dropdown showed up this am….and from what I see, it’s up and running for ALL of our two dozen clients….

Hmm…still think that this is going to be an interesting factor….

:-)

Jim

]]> By: Yoni Kariv http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549623 Yoni Kariv Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:35:50 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549623 Hey Mike
As I predicted in my May 31 comment- yesterday Google unleashed May update. Results: Many Owner Verified Locksmith listings have been cut off from their Place page accounts. Meaning you can’t control your listing anymore. The online Locksmith listings are coming from other Local directories, Usually with no URL.
I don’t understand what’s Google is trying to accomplish. Why does he shutting down place page listings, but making sure an open version of those listings will stay online

]]> By: Nyagoslav http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549600 Nyagoslav Tue, 31 May 2011 23:40:49 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549600 It seems not to be present only for the Google Places in the countries where it’s in Beta (definitely not present in Bulgaria and Sweden). As far as I noticed it’s there for searches on google.ca

A side note – yesterday and today I started seeing “This listing is unverified” message under the business name of some unclaimed Place pages.

]]> By: Mike Blumenthal http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549599 Mike Blumenthal Tue, 31 May 2011 23:05:30 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549599 @Yoni

Yes this is definitely part of the spring rollout…. it might have been in place for a while.. it is not easy to get to…

@Jim
Did you go into Maps, do your search and then click through to Places?

]]> By: Jim Rudnick http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549570 Jim Rudnick Tue, 31 May 2011 15:12:08 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549570 Not up here yet in g.ca land…least as far as 15 searches just showed….

While that’s not surprising, what I do find interesting is that the drop down box as is shown is pure text links only….Hmmm….now that’s interesting from a keyword-named-domain pov, eh!

:-)

Jim

]]> By: Yoni Kariv http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549556 Yoni Kariv Tue, 31 May 2011 08:12:23 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549556 It seems that this is part of many Maps changes that the Google Places team is working on. I believe those changes will be gradual, starting bottom and up. It is all part of the Yearly Maps changes, so this is only the beginning. The past two weeks Google has renew its habit, calling high risk businesses verifying their location and business names.
Something tells me that in the next two weeks the Maps search for those kinds of businesses won’t be the same

]]> By: Mike http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549515 Mike Mon, 30 May 2011 18:58:04 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549515 @nyagoslav

Yes because the only way to see it is to access via a Map’s search, it is likely that it has been there for a while. At first I thought it was only in certain countries or but it is odd that it only shows on searches from within Maps but not with Places or the main search results page.

Even though it does point out competitors, currently only if you do a broad search and only with Maps…. so it makes sense to allow a user to move “sideways” through the results rather than forcing them back to Maps….

]]> By: Nyagoslav http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/30/place-pages-sporting-new-navigation-features/comment-page-1/#comment-549511 Nyagoslav Mon, 30 May 2011 18:43:45 +0000 http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=10063#comment-549511 The first time I noticed it was about a week ago when Linda posted the “awaiting removal” article. I was unsure if it was a new feature though. I think it was rolled out when Google added the “enhanced interface”: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/05/20/google-maps-places-tidbits/

It’s interesting though, because that would be basically the third “spot” on a Place page where Google will present direct links to competitors’ Place pages (together with the Related Place section and the Ads in the side bar).

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