Comments on: Google+ Pages For Local – Known Bugs & Quirks After the G+ Local Merge

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

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:04:26 +0000

[...] caveats soon piled on. Bugs in the merge process became all too apparent but even more significant was Google’s [...]

By: mike bayes

mike bayes — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:16:14 +0000

“Don’t you think though that most users if they need to look for local either change the location or add a geo modifier? ”

@Mike, I don’t know. I think its a very valuable question. I am going to send out a survey and ask how many people have changed their location on the browser when searching for a local type business.

I suspect the great majority of non Internet savey users will not have a clue what I am talking about, while the group that works around the Internet will have a majority “yes” response.

Today Google thinks I am in Erie Colorado. Yesterday they thought I was in Northglenn CO.. I am in Lafayette. Must be the Dynamic IP address Comcast uses.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:03:50 +0000

@Miriam

Have never tried one (a bug that is) but in this case its just the essence of the bug not the bug itself… bug spice as it were.

@MikeB

Now you are getting with the program.

The ability to geo locate desktop users is still in its infancy. The signals available to the browser and Google as you note are often skewed by the ISP routers.. Don’t you think though that most users if they need to look for local either change the location or add a geo modifier?

By: mike Bayes

mike Bayes — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:45:09 +0000

We had the issue of two different Google Places accounts, different emails. Shame on me for jumping on the Google Plus for business band wagon early. I MUST PAY MORE ATTENTION to MIKE!

On another note. Since Google serves up the wrong location information for maps a great percentage of the time, I am not sure how valuable the Maps listings are. They use the Searchers ISP routers information for location, and in my case (and I suspect a large percentage of cases) I get results in maps from a suburb two cities away.

By: MiriamEllis

MiriamEllis — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:46:40 +0000

Well, I can’t believe no one made any comment about the giant water bug. Cool that your daughter is studying in Viet Nam, and she’s very adventurous if she will eat bug-flavored soup. So many cultures do eat bugs….must be the prejudices of my upbringing, but bugs just don’t ever look appetizing to me. Some folks swear by them.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:42:40 +0000

@Linda

If service area is not used in any ranking algo why keep it on your listing? S*&t can it and move on. Just because Google doesn’t support it in G+ Pages is no reason to not upgrade if after weighing all the evidence you think you should. Deselect it and get on with it.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:41:52 +0000

@Linda

“Since service area is not used in any ranking algo and is no longer displayed in Maps I see little reason to hold for this (non?) feature.”

Why keep it on your listing? S*&t can it and move on. Just because Google doesn’t support it in G+ Pages is no reason to not upgrade if after weighing all the evidence you think you should. Deselect it and get on with it.

By: Linda Buquet

Linda Buquet — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 23:15:03 +0000

@Mike “Since service area is not used in any ranking algo and is no longer displayed in Maps I see little reason to hold for this (non?) feature.”

I agree but remember someone high up specifically told us SABs are are not supposed to yet. That’s what I was going by.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:11:37 +0000

@Kerry
The display of the categories seems to be a thing of the past. For now at least, the easiest is to add them in your Places Dashboard. If that isn’t a choice, then MapMaker is an alternative. They still appear to influence relevancy.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:55:00 +0000

If the dropdown menu for categories is indeed a thing of the past already, do you suggest continue to add categories in Map Maker? I’d sure love to see what will pick up the slack in providing Google with data regarding relevance to provide the best search results for users. Optimized descriptions, other directories, the business website, or all of the above?