{"id":1727,"date":"2008-12-10T22:24:30","date_gmt":"2008-12-11T02:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=1727"},"modified":"2008-12-11T11:19:07","modified_gmt":"2008-12-11T15:19:07","slug":"google-local-survey-is-google-thinking-of-charging-for-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/10\/google-local-survey-is-google-thinking-of-charging-for-local\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Business Group Survey &#8211; Not from Google"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Update 12\/11\/08: Cathy has <a href=\"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/10\/google-local-survey-is-google-thinking-of-charging-for-local\/#comment-294377\">pointed out<\/a><\/strong><strong>, and I believe correctly, that this survey is NOT from Google.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you were the &#8220;Lord Ruler of Google&#8221; what would you do to improve the local search results?\u00a0In the Google Maps for Business Owners, Someone\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">Google<\/span> (NOT&#8230;this is my error &#8230;) has <a href=\"http:\/\/groups.google.com\/group\/Google-Maps-For-Business-Owners\/browse_frm\/thread\/5272b4f7f485fd53?hl=en#\">invited users<\/a> for feedback on their Local business listing efforts. The survey, which is very short, is available here:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=00w8nd9ZZr2HXyWmnsR_2fkA_3d_3d\">http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=00w8nd9ZZr2HXyWmnsR_2fkA_3d_3d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The survey had some interesting questions pertaining to the importance of business listing accuracy and spam. There were several questions that stood out (notice in the last one the question about paying for local):<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n*******<\/p>\n<div id=\"q1\" class=\"question\">\n<div class=\"qContent\">\n<h3 class=\"qHeader\"><abbr class=\"noborder\" title=\"Question 4\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">4<\/span><\/span><\/abbr><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">. What are you currently doing to help improve the Google Local search queries?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"qBody\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656275_20_1300304644_0\" class=\"cb\" name=\"input_112656275_20_1300304644_0\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"1300304644_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656275_20_1300304644_0\" class=\"cb_off\" for=\"input_112656275_20_1300304644_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\"><span class=\"hlbl\">What are you currently doing to help improve the Google Local search queries? \u00a0<\/span>Hired an outside firm to manage business information<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656275_20_1300304645_0\" class=\"cb\" name=\"input_112656275_20_1300304645_0\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"1300304645_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656275_20_1300304645_0\" class=\"cb_off\" for=\"input_112656275_20_1300304645_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">Learning the process on own and playing with changes<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656275_20_1300304646_0\" class=\"cb\" name=\"input_112656275_20_1300304646_0\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"1300304646_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656275_20_1300304646_0\" class=\"cb_off\" for=\"input_112656275_20_1300304646_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">I have no idea what to do<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656275_20_1300304647_0\" class=\"cb\" name=\"input_112656275_20_1300304647_0\" type=\"checkbox\" value=\"1300304647_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656275_20_1300304647_0\" class=\"cb_off\" for=\"input_112656275_20_1300304647_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">I have given up trying anything<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<div class=\"qOption\"><label for=\"text_112656275_1300304642\">Other (please specify)<\/label>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><input id=\"text_112656275_1300304642\" class=\"open\" title=\"Other (please specify)\" name=\"text_112656275_1300304642\" size=\"50\" type=\"text\" \/><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"q2\" class=\"question\">\n<div class=\"qContent\">\n<h3 class=\"qHeader\"><abbr class=\"noborder\" title=\"Question 5\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">5<\/span><\/span><\/abbr><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">. Is what you are currently doing to improve search results working?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"qBody\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656785_10_1300310215_0\" class=\"rb\" name=\"input_112656785_10_0_0\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1300310215_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656785_10_1300310215_0\" class=\"rb_off\" for=\"input_112656785_10_1300310215_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\"><span class=\"hlbl\">Is what you are currently doing to improve search results working? \u00a0<\/span>Yes<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656785_10_1300310216_0\" class=\"rb\" name=\"input_112656785_10_0_0\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1300310216_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656785_10_1300310216_0\" class=\"rb_off\" for=\"input_112656785_10_1300310216_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">No<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112656785_10_1300310217_0\" class=\"rb\" name=\"input_112656785_10_0_0\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1300310217_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112656785_10_1300310217_0\" class=\"rb_off\" for=\"input_112656785_10_1300310217_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">Sometimes<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"q3\" class=\"question\">\n<div class=\"qContent\">\n<h3 class=\"qHeader\"><abbr class=\"noborder\" title=\"Question 6\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">6<\/span><\/span><\/abbr><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">. If you were the &#8220;Lord Ruler of Google&#8221; what would you do to improve the local search results<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"qBody\"><span><textarea id=\"text_112657264_0\" class=\"open\" cols=\"50\" rows=\"3\" name=\"text_112657264_0\"><\/textarea><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"hlbl\"><label for=\"text_112657264_0\">If you were the &#8220;Lord Ruler of Google&#8221; what would you do to improve the local search results?<\/label><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"q4\" class=\"question\">\n<div class=\"qContent\">\n<h3 class=\"qHeader\"><abbr class=\"noborder\" title=\"Question 7\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">7<\/span><\/span><\/abbr><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">. If there were a service available that implemented your solution would you be willing to pay for such service?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"qBody\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<div class=\"qOption hover\"><input id=\"input_112657528_10_1300318977_0\" class=\"rb\" name=\"input_112657528_10_0_0\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1300318977_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112657528_10_1300318977_0\" class=\"rb_off\" for=\"input_112657528_10_1300318977_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\"><span class=\"hlbl\">\u00a0<\/span>Yes<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<div class=\"qOption ruled\"><input id=\"input_112657528_10_1300318978_0\" class=\"rb\" name=\"input_112657528_10_0_0\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1300318978_0\" \/><label id=\"linput_112657528_10_1300318978_0\" class=\"rb_off\" for=\"input_112657528_10_1300318978_0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"file:\/\/\/Users\/mike\/Documents\/blog\/Google%20Survey\/img\/t.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><span class=\"qLabel\">No<\/span><\/label><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>*******<\/p>\n<p>I am not sure that businesses that don&#8217;t know what they don&#8217;t know will have much success with the poorly worded question 4.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It is of interest to me that Google is asking about willingness to pay. In the end analysis, accurate, reliable Local results benefits the small businesses of the world. A sustainable, equitable ecosystem that is spam free will only be achievable with a reliable source of income. If advertising income is perceived to be a different pool of money and not available to support Local, than charging for accurate, monitored, supported results is the only answer.<\/p>\n<p>If the survey is no longer available, you may view the pages here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blumenthals.com\/blogimages\/Google Survey\/s1.html\" target=\"_blank\">Page 1<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blumenthals.com\/blogimages\/Google Survey\/s2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Page 2<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blumenthals.com\/blogimages\/Google Survey\/s3.html\" target=\"_blank\">Page 3<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update 12\/11\/08: Cathy has pointed out, and I believe correctly, that this survey is NOT from Google.\u00a0 If you were the &#8220;Lord Ruler of Google&#8221; what would you do to improve the local search results?\u00a0In the Google Maps for Business Owners, Someone\u00a0Google (NOT&#8230;this is my error &#8230;) has invited users for feedback on their Local &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-maps-google-local"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1727"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1739,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions\/1739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}