Comments on: Google+ Local on Suspensions – The Algo Did It!

By: Ladan

Ladan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 05:41:51 +0000

This exact thing happened to us two weeks ago! As of today our Places page is no longer “suspended” but all the history from our Places listing has been erased and it’s essentially a new business listing that doesn’t appear in any search result for auto glass. Ironically, we are the ONLY real, brick and mortar auto glass shop in Berkeley, but you can’t find us. I’m wondering if the Google+ page I created for our business (using the same email as the Google Places page) may have somehow interfered with our business listing and made it look like a duplicate. If anyone is aware of a fix, please help!

https://plus.google.com/116451053324727602720/about?gl=US&hl=en-US

By: jamie

jamie — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:52:01 +0000

Google is losing the local game! They are just flat out losing it. For one thing, the user experience for the business owner trying to optimize and update their listings is lacking, but secondly and most importantly, the user experience for the end user leaves a lot to be desired. It’s clunky looking, poor design, not easy to leave reviews, and the amount of reviews left for – lets say restaurants in Seattle – has about a 2-3 month latency period from one review to the other, which compares poorly next to Yelp’s, which has latency period of about a week on average. Buying Zagat was not a great move. Google needs to figure out that human contact and interaction and design with this product needs to trump “algo’s” – Foursquare and Yelp…and Twitter…and Facebook will eat their local lunch as time goes by.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:39:19 +0000

Good news from Joel Headley via Google+: The automated email response from the reconsideration request includes text telling folks where to get support.

Since the prevailing advice had been to just start over with a new account, this message should save some folks some time and grief.

By: Dave Oremland

Dave Oremland — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 14:13:50 +0000

Cathy:

Two things. I was checking for your places record and saw it went back up. HOOOOOOORAAAAAYYYYY!!!

I was also checking all our different records…because, heaven forbid a “glitch” could be become a serious virus….and hit many smb’s.

hope the glitch doesn’t spread.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:10:15 +0000

@cathy

That’s great news. None too soon. I am hoping that my single office lawyer has the same success.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:18:01 +0000

Happy to report that the suspension has been lifted and our Places dashboard working again.

I certainly hope this ‘algo gone awry’ gets reversed for other businesses, too. Rebuilding a Places page takes lots of time and effort (as @Dave so well outlined).

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 18:28:10 +0000

I’ve seen this suggestion to create a new listing and it’s ridiculous for all the reasons stated. I have tried working with multiple accounts and it just don’t work. This is unbelievably irritating especially when the guidelines are being followed and the get out is blocked.

As a side note in Places i’ve got a site that if I put in the keyword+location it does not appear. Just click on the map and refresh and it’s returned as B listing. Weird.

By: Dave Oremland

Dave Oremland — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:02:05 +0000

@Cathy: It would be a shame: in a sense criminal should you have to start over. that means that every step you took in the past to get visibility and recognition would have to be recreated…or at least many of them.

Last year I had a record “mysteriously” suffer a dupe, the original was eliminated and the new record ultimately repropagated with the existing data within the web (all those citations and references that boost a site).

Discussed it here: http://www.ngsmarketing.com/google-local-back-end-problems/

The new record (that was automatically created via this automated fiasco) had virtually all of the accurate NAP data. Just reread the piece. It took roughly 4 weeks for the strength of the record to reappear and be reflected in the PAC. Some of the strength started reappearing in 2-3 weeks.

But for the first 2-3, 4 weeks we lost traffic due to lower rankings and the fact that all that old work was wasted.

By the end of 4 weeks we seemed to be where we are. I go back over citation sources now, looking to keep adding strength.

In that google’s automated “glitch” caused the problem it would be NICER and better if google fixed EVERYTHING ASAP.

but nobody gets to boss around google.

Good luck. Even if you go through an automated “fix” at least you don’t have to recreate innumerable citations, assuming the situation is anything like what I faced.

And then again…with big opaque google. Who knows???

GOOD LUCK

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 17:00:17 +0000

I had to do this roughly a year ago and it took me months to get all of our 22+ listings “back”. I now have two accounts that I have to bounce back and forth between to manage our different Google products, which causes all sorts of problems in itself.

By: Mike Blumenthal

Mike Blumenthal — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:23:19 +0000

@Earl
True. True

@Phil
Dystopian the perfect word… and you don’t know the half of it.

Cathy
I too am hopeful that they will fix. Please keep us posted .