{"id":751,"date":"2008-07-31T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2008-07-31T14:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=751"},"modified":"2008-07-31T10:36:32","modified_gmt":"2008-07-31T14:36:32","slug":"google-maps-and-the-wrong-url","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2008\/07\/31\/google-maps-and-the-wrong-url\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Maps and the wrong URL"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been a large uptick in reports<\/a> in the Google Maps for Business Groups of wrong URL’s being assigned to a business listing in Google Maps and the Local Ten Packs. These reports often speak of nefarious competitors, hijacked listings or lost business.<\/p>\n

I have written about this problem in the “archeological” past (here<\/a> and here<\/a>) and noted that this assignment of URL’s was an artifact of an over aggressive Google algorithm.<\/p>\n

However, the posts in the group and inquiries from peers had become so numerous that I inquired of a Google whether there had been a recent change in the algo or whether just more people were noticing. The response was, that more folks are noticing.<\/p>\n

We are experiencing a new wave of newly (and poorly) educated business owners who are taking note of the value of Maps but are clueless as to how to handle this and other “features” of Google Maps. So this post is directed to them (if they make it this far in their quest).<\/p>\n

1-Take control of your listing in the Local Business Center<\/p>\n

2- DO NOT\u00c2\u00a0 leave the URL field blank even if you do not have a web site<\/p>\n

3- Either enter the URL for your business profile from another local site that has good details or create a profile page at one of the free web site sites and use its URL.<\/p>\n

4- If you feel uncomfortable doing the above then put http:\/\/maps.google.com into the Local Business Center until you have either created a new website or taken step 3 above<\/p>\n

Allowing Google to automatically assign a URL to your business listing is roughly akin to the oxymoron of allowing the Commander in Chief to be in charge of Military Intelligence. A we have learned, neither has worked very well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There has been a large uptick in reports in the Google Maps for Business Groups of wrong URL’s being assigned to a business listing in Google Maps and the Local Ten Packs. These reports often speak of nefarious competitors, hijacked listings or lost business. I have written about this problem in the “archeological” past (here …<\/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-751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-maps-google-local"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t