Comments on: Google+ Business Pages: To Merge Or Not to Merge, That is the Question

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:34:19 +0000

You can remove your listing from the dashboard or not. Its up to you. Google IS upgrading the dashboard and you will get the new one eventually. Regardless both PLus and the Dashboard feed data to the same knowledge graph. Once the upgrade is complete you will lose access to custom categories so enjoy them while you can.

By: Javier

Javier — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:19:48 +0000

Can I remove google plus?

I have merged google place with google plus; but in google plus there aren’t categories that there are in google place; like apartment, building apartment, rental agency apartment.

These words are important for me and I have disappeared in local with these words.

Can I remove google plus page and have google place only?.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:16:08 +0000

@mike
Yes, I am beginning to think it might not have been a good idea as well, at least not until these idiosyncrasies get ironed out.

I have other pages I’ve set up that I want to put the official stamp on, but am now reluctant to do the whole merge process again.

In this case; do you have any idea how to go about verifying a business brand page?

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:08:27 +0000

@scott
As far as I could tell merging offered little in the way if “local search bebefits”. It was neutral in that regard. It does allow for a prettier local page I suppose but given the many quirks and limits I did not generally recommend it.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:51:50 +0000

Thanks, Mike.

Ah, ’tis disappointing though. I’ve spoken directly with Google local staff, and they have said that is something they have no control over, it’s up to the + team (who in turn do not have a support line).

Feeling vaguely punished for merging, but I also want the local search benefits!

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:47:12 +0000

@Scot
In theory these pages offer “rich text” formatting. However due to security issues related to Maps and HTML, they are under strict algo review. The result is that this feature has not worked reliably. All you can do is wait for Google to get their act together.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:24:45 +0000

This is a fairly old thread now, but one issue I have been struggling with is changing the about information after having merged my business page and +local page is accurately updating the “About” information.

Namely, my changes get approved, but without any of the formatting or anchor text links I had set up in the “Edit Business Information” segment.

Any ideas on this?

By: David

David — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:20:34 +0000

Comment #20,
That Google Local Page is not claimed so if that is you or a clients you should verify and claim it before a competitor closes the business

By: Google Local: Train Wreck at the Junction | Understanding Google Places & Local Search

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:58:13 +0000

[...] Yet Google, rather than laying out a road map so businesses can plan in an intelligent manner, plays 3 card monte with press statements and or makes public utterances that lack [...]

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:37:39 +0000

@Robin

Question 1) If one of my Google Plus pages is set up correctly (red pin/local) but set for the one address and is unverfied. Should I set up a 2nd Google Plus (local red pin) page for the other address too? And then try merging them?

That is your call but I see the risks as quite high and the benefits few. If I were you I would wait patiently unless social marekting at Plus is a very critical element of your marketing.

Question2) The one page I have been working on I now realize is a brand page and is not local. Can I change this category to a local page? If I can’t will this page ever merge to one of the existing places page?

You can not change this page from Brand to Local and it will NOT merge.