{"id":15495,"date":"2013-08-19T14:03:52","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T18:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=15495"},"modified":"2013-08-19T16:38:54","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T20:38:54","slug":"google-places-guidelines-no-longer-prohibit-city-in-your-category-field-should-you-add-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/19\/google-places-guidelines-no-longer-prohibit-city-in-your-category-field-should-you-add-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Places Guidelines No Longer Prohibit City in Your Category Field – Should You Add It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joy Hawkins of Imprezzio Marketing<\/a>, alerted me to this post<\/a> in the Google forum where a business noted that the Google Places for Business Guidelines do not<\/strong> prohibit the use of city in the category field . Apparently\u00a0Google has recently changed the Google Places Quality Guidelines<\/a> and removed the prohibition against the use of geography in the category field.<\/p>\n

Should you now add your city to a custom category? \u00a0The short answer: No. Google knows where you business is located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Old Guidelines<\/a><\/td>\nNew Guidelines<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Provide at least one category from the suggestions provided in the form as you type. Aim for categories that are specific, but brief.<\/p>\n
    \n
  • Categories should say what your business is (e.g.\u00a0Hospital<\/em>), not on what it does (e.g.\u00a0Vaccinations<\/em>) or things it sells (e.g.\u00a0Sony products<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0printer paper<\/em>). This information can be added in your description or as custom attributes.<\/li>\n
  • Categories should not contain location-based information (for example,Dog Walker Los Angeles<\/em>\u00a0is not permitted).<\/li>\n
  • Only one category is permitted per entry field. Do not \u201cstuff\u201d entry fields with multiple categories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
Select at least one category from the list of available categories.<\/p>\n