Understanding Google Places & Local Search – Developing Knowledge about Local Search

KML: HTML for the Geoweb – Christopher Schmidt, TechnicalRamblings
KML has become the “HTML” of the Geographic Web. With limited semantic meaning, a combination of mostly-human understandable XML tags for the majority of the usages, widespread use and abuse for purposes far beyond the original thoughts and intentions of the designers, and more, KML fits well into the geographic version of the niche filled by HTML in more generalized content publishing.

Beneficiaries of UGC in Map and Location Updating – MDob, Exploring

This is part of series on the implication, benefits, winners and loosers in having users updating Mapd and Business listing data.

Yahoo! onePlace Offers Front Door to Mobile Internet – Greg Sterling LocalMobileSearch

One of the many things holding the cell phone back from being a functional internet and search platform in the terrible user experience. This product might solve some of that for non iPhone users.

Do Ratings Matter Part Deux – Greg Sterling, Screenwerk

Yahoo’s response to Greg’s response to Matt’s posting:

1. Ratings (stars) always matter and factor into the presentation of ranked local results in Shortcuts/Direct Display and Yahoo! Local.
2. Most of the time the local results presented in search results and in Yahoo! Local will be identical (top three) but not 100% of the time.
3. Reviews/review text don’t factor as a weighted variable in the algorithm for the presentation of local results via Shortcuts but may, on occasion, play a part in the ordering of results on Yahoo! Local.

The Google Maps for Business Group has had countless requests for help with erroneous Plus Boxes like this one:

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TOPIC: “+” Sign shows Wrong Address & Phone # in Google Search Results! HELP!
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Date: Mon, Mar 3 2008 12:10 pm
From: rjfny
Hi Jen,

Here is the link to our search results page

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=top+hat+dance+studio+philadelphia

Top Hat Dance Studio is listed on the search results page twice. Thelisting at the top of the page has the correct address which is….

Correct: 10771 Bustleton Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19116

However, there is an incorrect listing with a “+” Sign that shows the wrong address.

Incorrect: 3114 Willits Rd Philadelphia, PA 19136

We have tried for a year to have this address changed to no avail. The address has been changed in Google local business, Google maps, the business web site, and on search engines throughout the internet. No one seems to know how to change the “+” Sign Google address or determine the source of the incorrect listing data.

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Robert

Most writers to this group assume that since the information in the PlusBox is local in nature that Google must logically be taking the information from a verified business listing in the Local Business Center. One would naturally come to that conclusion. The assumption is that the most reliable local data would be taken from the business controlled and updated record in the LBC. That appears to not be the case. (more…)

I have in the past noted the number and similarity of complaints to the Google Maps For Business Group. I have also noted the need for more more staff support for the group. The other day the summary of the daily conversations seemed to embody all of that and then some. Many of the complaints have a familiar ring but the link to a dead person complaint offered a new twist on the merged record problem. Here are the posts for the day taken verbatim from the group:

Phone number not displayed in Local One Box Results

Recently Google stopped displaying my business phone number in the Local One Box summery however if you click on details it shows my phone number. Is there a checklist I should go through to figure out what happened? Yellow Pages has a different phone number for my company so they can track which customers called from their ad. Is it possible that the… more » By aplusperfect – Mar 1 – 1 new of 1 message

 

	automated category selection…
	I get that Google wants to automatcially select a category it thinks best suits a business, so why do they ask us for categories? I created an entry for our daycare center and used “daycare, preschool, private school”. All of these make perfect sense. Google put us in “Colleges and universities”. I know why. We are called:… more » By Corey Mac – Feb 29 – 1 new of 1 message

 

	Bulk Feed Upload still Awaiting next update after 4 weeks
	Hello, I uploaded a bulk feed list file on Jan. 31st 2008 and it doesn’t appear to be working. On my administration page for business location lists all statuses as following: Awaiting next update. Changes take up to 4 weeks to appear on Google Maps As i understand it, this status should report Active if they are live…. more » By Eric – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	URGENT My business listing is linked to a dead person URGENT
	I have a business listing and the name is incorrect. I made a request to edit the business listing Feb 12 and it is still not corrected. The link is costing me many concerns with my career and business as linking to a dead prior agent can be viewed as improper on my part. I NEED to remove the name Sam Carrello from my address. THIS is an… more » By chris caraisco – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	LocalBusiness
	Can anyone tell me why my business is not showing up under the local business. It was and now I do a search and it will not find it? By TAB – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	Does Bulk Upload Work? What is verified?
	Does bulk upload work? There seems to be many messages about it does work, doesn’t work, has stopped working, takes a long time, etc. Is there any definitive statement on whether this function is currently working (as of 2/29/08)? and How long is it taking for bulk upload submissions to show up?… more » By Jim – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	Wrong categories
	I have posted both of my business under services attorney’s and servies legal aid. My business does not show when you do a earch for an attorney in my city. When you do a search of the business name one of them comes up under colleges and universities and the other comes up under dentist and orthodontics…. more » By Mike – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	At wits end on how to get on Google Maps local directory
	Please can someone help as this is keeping me awake at night. We have a guest house in Oban Scotland. ( The Old Manse in Oban). Since the introduction of the local directory with Google Maps – which now comes up first in any search – we have seen our bookings go down the pan. We used to come up… more » By ronac – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	Postcard Mailer Problem
	Hello, I’ve got multiple locations for the same business that I’m trying to list on Google maps. I can only verify my listing via the postcard mailer because the phone goes directly to VM. Some of my locations have received the mailer and others have not. I’ve tried to re-send it a couple of times to locations that did not get the mailer, but with… more » By Raven – Feb 29 – 1 message

 

	Adding a Category
	Hi I have been trying for ages to try and get our business listed under a category that actually fits what my company does. I have noticed that there is a company in North Vancouver that shows the Category they are listed in as Leather. I cannot find this Category anywhere. I wholesale leather to interior designers, so when… more » By DragonFly Surfaces – Feb 28 – 1 message

When Google finally fixes Maps it might very well precipitate a midlife blogging crisis for me. I won’t know how to spend my time.:)

Update: 03/04/08 1:30 pm This listing no longer shows on the search.

The Authoritative Onebox when returned on general search phrases is very powerful. The result dominates the page. Google assumes that they know exactly what the searcher wants. We saw last December the impact that this had on a florist in Denver. What happens though when that Authoritative OneBox result is spammy?

An English reader has reported a case where the general search phrase “english language school london” is now returning an Authoritative OneBox on the Google results page that certainly isn’t totally on the up and up.

The address is actually occupied by the Little Italy Restaurant, the photo with the Maps record is bogus, the phone number is used by several businesses but seems to be located at another address, the domain owner has several websites with apparently fabricated adresses. The domain record indicates that the domain holder of record is located in another part of town with the same phone number. It may well be a legitimate business (how legitimate could they be?) that has gotten overly aggressive an getting an address near the center of the city. Maybe they were just following Google’s own ill considered advice and getting a mail location closer to the center of the city.

The problem however is made worse by the fact that Google has returned an Authoritative Onebox for the result, adding legitimacy to the suspect business and denying legitimate exposure to the other businesses providing the service. The problem here is certainly with Mapspam but perhaps even more so with Google’s confidence that they know so surely what the searchers intent is and return such an “indisputable” result.

The No. 1 Thing I Learned at SMX West (about Local Search) Matt McGee, Small Business SEM

Brian Gill was talking about the Yahoo “Local Shortcut” — when they show three local business listings in the regular Yahoo SERPs. Here’s what he said:”Reviews and ratings have no impact on reaching those top three spots in the regular SERPs.

He said they do play a role in the Yahoo Local rankings, but not on the main Yahoo SERPs.

Blended Local Results with Unverified Listings Eric Lander’s Blog

Yellow Pages: The Way into Google Maps? Greg Sterling, Screenwerk

The coming Duopoly Greg Sterling, Screenwerk

Last week I looked at which review sites were considered by Google in the ranking of the Top 10 Restaurants in Buffalo, NY. Here is a similar analysis of the review sites for Dallas compared to Buffalo:

Several items of note:

• There were 7 additional review sites referenced in Dallas (those in bold)
• Judy’s Book which shut down last October (although the site is still live) seemed to have much more of a Buffalo presence
•Zagat has a very strong presence in Dallas but little in Buffalo, I wonder why?
•The Dallas Observer, an obviously local site, has a presence
•CitySearch is the obvious leader in both cities

Buffalo, NY has a population of 276, 059. Dallas Texas has 1,232,940 folks and San Francisco has 744,041 people. Yet the number of reviews bears no correlation to their populations in the Google Local 10-Pack results:

It makes sense that San Francisco has such a large number of reviews; the city has a technically savvy population, has a large amount of tourism and is the home of Yelp. But why would there be such a similar number of reviews in Buffalo, a declining NE city of a quarter million, and Dallas, a much larger and still growing area? Are Texans slower on the uptake?

Some items of note:

•The top review getters in Dallas or Buffalo are in the 50 range vs. SF’s 150

•Only 2 of these 30 restaurants do not yet have websites noted in Google Maps•In Dallas the #1 sites had 2x’s the number of review of the 10th ranked site

•The Anchor Bar has 4x’s the number of reviews of the 10th site.

•Note that while generally the more the reviews the higher the rank that is not always the case. E & O Trading Co in S.F. is a case in point as is Restaurant Gary Danko.

•Several listings appear to have obviously attempted to modify their business name to influence ranking ( La Nova Pizzeria: Buffalo Location, Restaurant Gary Danko).

Earlier today EarlPearl asked the question: Where is the information turning up erroneously? in the comments section of my write-up of the business record in Maps that contained so many errors.

While EarlPearl intended the question in its simplest form it triggered a thought experiment for me. Where could it be wrong? I came up with the following list of possiblities:

•Authoritative OneBox
•Local 10-Pack
•Maps List view
•Maps Expanded View #1
•Maps Expanded View #2 (More Details)
•Organic Search Results w/ Plus Box

The answer was illustrative. For a period this afternoon the record was visible in most of those places with a surpising degree of variability. Unfortunately I didn’t do screen captures of each of them but I have my notes:

Much of the information that was showing was information that I had recently entered in the LBC and was accurate: website, business name, accurate phone number, street address, Suite info (added yesterday). These pieces of information had not really been available to Google until last week.

All of the inaccurate information had come from referenced links on the details page. What was surprising was that the Authoritative OneBox had accurate results yet the listing in the Local 10-Pack had an erroneous phone number.

Most of the bad information appears to have come from references in the details section of the business record in Maps. Whatever caused those details to be associated with the record was 1) the source of the bad info and 2)being given precedence over Local Business Center data in the Local 10-Pack (and elsewhere). None of those other references in the details section of the local record had any mention of Dr. Schubiner and most (with the exception of the Carbondale, IL Doctor) were about Providence Hospital.

Curiouser and curioser. I did create a post at the Google Groups Maps for Business titled Local Record of MInd Body Pain Clinic taking on a life of its own. Stay tuned for Goolge’s answer.
(more…)

I have recently noted examples (here & here) of merged business records in Google Maps. It appears that this phenomena and the rogue hospital phone number issues of Duke University and other medical centers are related.

Roughly two weeks ago I edited a record in Google Maps for a new web design customer and as has been my recent experience with the LBC, was posted to Maps immediately and correctly with no verification required. My client, also my best college friend, was impressed. However, he called me early this week and noted problems with his Google Maps record:

He had suddenly acquired additional phone numbers and the medical profile of a Doctor in Carbondale, IL with whom he has no relation. The phone numbers were from regional Detroit sites that had his hospital name, St. John Providence Hospital, but no reference to him.

The signals that I had assumed might be causing the problems: website address, web links, web references on his site seem to have had no impact. Like the Duke Center problem, there are multiple offices, phone numbers and doctors at this street address which might explain the confusion on the phone numbers. But there is no descernable relationship on the doctor with whom he was confused.

Google has his complete business record in the LBC so why should they be adding data from other sources anyways? It is one of those situations where one’s confidence in their ability to handle personal medical records might be called into question.

Updated 2/26/08

In the past I examined which review sites were being used by Google in Maps for Restaurants in Buffalo, NY. While the research is not scientific in the sense that I do not look at the same restaurants each time but look at the top 10, it doesn’t provide a complete list of review sites but it does provide insight to the comings and goings of review sites and the dynamic nature of the ones that Google is using at any given point in time.

(more…)