Spoke W/ Google Yesterday

[CAORYAN]

I know what you are thinking....I was thinking the same thing. My friend called me and said Google called and said they want me to spend $25 on my Google Local ads. I said I think your lying but I had seen something in the listing on his account that I keep for him. Sure enough he gave me the phone number and I called and spoke with someone at Google. Its a new adventure they are only testing in San Jose California and Houston TX. If you have a local listing verified and you get so many impressions you can pay $25 and they will highlight your listing to stand out more. Oh, thats $25 monthly by the way.

He said that they are going national with it and he will call me the minute it does. If your business is within the San Jose or Houston area and you qualify I will give you his direct number. He works on commission and I made a deal that I would send him business if he called me as soon as they made this available for everyone.

To verify it was indeed Google he gave me info about my account that only Google would know. Trust me I tested him. People call me all the time telling me they are Google and they can get me on page one of Google. I get so frustrated because people fall for that.

Email me if you do have a listing in that area and I will get you with him rlucia [at] contactatonce.com.

If nothing else I thought it was interesting and wanted to share.

[Alex Snyder]

Interesting. Does this mean they're going to get those local listings fixed?

[CAORYAN]

Alex, What do you mean get them fixed? Are you having problems? Explain....I spend a great deal of time on Google Local.

[Alex Snyder]

I'm just one of a many dealers with Google Local issues. Here is a message I sent to them two days ago:

Most people view large dealer groups mostly as market-dominating businesses that simply sell and service a lot of cars. That is certainly a true perspective to have, but on the Dealer Principle (Owner) level it is more about real estate. Dealerships occupy a lot of land in order to provide parking spaces for all the inventory and customer cars. On top of that automotive franchises (Toyota, Audi, Honda, etc.) demand dealers to have specific showroom specifications that sometimes require changes in location in order to appease. Because of real estate demands many of the older, more established, dealerships have had a multitude of varying addresses. Over the years, directory services, such as the Yellow Pages, have had to make numerous corrections on a dealer's behalf. With the Internet the number of directory services has multiplied, but nothing is stronger than Google Maps.

As an eCommerce Director for a 46 year old, large dealer group I have struggled to correct our Google Maps listings. As a writer for DealerRefresh.com I have spoken with many dealerships who are experiencing the same struggle. I could bore you with all the testing attempts I've made over the last 3 years, but we'd be here a long time.

The more I *think* I have Google Maps figured out, the more messed up it gets. The more I try to fix it the worse it is. For example, our Toyota store (Checkered Flag Toyota) has the URL of our VW store and the physical address of our Audi store. It also has only two reviews that both belong to our Audi store, but our Toyota store has hundreds of positive reviews online. Our Audi store has quite a few as well. Unfortunately, on Google Maps, most of our stores look like monsters in customer service because the only reviews that show on our Maps listings are negative. This just isn't reality. Aside from the reviews, customers are penalized by trusting Google Maps to give them driving directions. We are constantly having to redirect customers to the proper address after they've driven to the wrong one. This looks bad for Google.

I would love some help in getting Checkered Flag's listings straight, and to help Google educate the automotive dealer, vendor, and franchise community by creating best practice dialogue on DealerRefresh in any form Google would like to see it. I know Google will find any help given will go a very long way in the automotive industry.

I am all over the Google Local Business Center - it is PERFECT! Brian Pasch went over it and gave his on our setup. I can't figure out why Google doesn't pay attention to its own Local Business Center. I've also been trying to correct the various directory services, but they seem to ignore what I'm telling them too. We are just a BIG mess on all these sites!

[CAORYAN]

I signed him up and it was up and running in 5 minutes check it out aaron overhead door - Google Search

[CAORYAN]

Alex,

I understand what you are saying. I seriously doubt Google will ever give over control of the testimonies or allow us to correct them. The link I gave you has the same problem. This garage door company sold part of their business to an investor and in the deal they gave them rights to the name, a main phone number, and fax number. They did such a bad job they filed bankrupt and opened under a different name "Heritage". Well they still accept calls from the number and pretend to be Aaron Overhead Door. This is a problem because they do horrible work and it reflects in the testimonies on Google Local/Maps. So, I feel you on the struggle with correcting them.

[CAORYAN]

Alex,

I think i have a little bit of info that might help. You can delete listings that are old if they are owner verified. He didn't officially say but he hinted that the more complete the listing is the better it will rank. He also kept saying in a high pitch that I should REALLY add pictures to my local profile. As for the reviews, he said it was tricky because they get reviews from so many different places. If it is a Google review they will only remove them if their is profanity in the review. So if you are going to piss someone off make sure you tell them to curse you out in all the reviews lol. He said the only way you can get reviews from other sites off your listing is to change the review with the company they got the review from and the correction would reflect on your listing.

Hope this helps. I was kind of in a hurry so I didn't have a ton of time to speak with him.

[Alex Snyder]

So if you are going to piss someone off make sure you tell them to curse you out in all the reviews lol.

That's great advice!

We've done everything else you listed.

[Mitchell Brenner]

Right now we're ok with Google maps (watch us disappear tomorrow) but twice recently we disappeared completely from maps. Business center was perfect, showed the listing, but, no listing on the web. Both times it came back on it's own. Put in a Report a Problem and received this from Google over a month later: We were already fixed a month before this came over.

Hi Mitchell,

Your Google Maps problem report has been reviewed, and you were right! We'll update the map soon and email you when you can see the change.

Report history
Problem ID: F46C-EBAC-58C5-4275

Your report: We are the authorized Acura Dealer in Princeton. Why have we disappeared from the map? Look at the map for princeton acura nj and we're the only dealer listed.
--
Thanks for your help,
The Google Maps team

I'm just one of a many dealers with Google Local issues. Here is a message I sent to them two days ago:



I am all over the Google Local Business Center - it is PERFECT! Brian Pasch went over it and gave his on our setup. I can't figure out why Google doesn't pay attention to its own Local Business Center. I've also been trying to correct the various directory services, but they seem to ignore what I'm telling them too. We are just a BIG mess on all these sites!