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Google Local updated business listings is a PAIN!

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Alex Snyder

Alex Snyder

President Skroob
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May 1, 2006
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Alex
#1
:banghead: who at Google do you have to knock across the head to get them to not touch your local business listings after you've given them all the proper information?

Over the past 3 or 4 years I have been making a serious effort to keep our Google Local listings accurate, and now they're all wrong again :chainsaw:

If you haven't updated your listings, this is the process:

  1. Go to the Google Local setup page
  2. Update your company's information (address, phone, URL, contacts, photos, etc)
  3. Select phone or post card verification (note that the phone option is slightly difficult if you have multiple locations and they're not all going to the same place)
  4. If postcard, wait 1 to 3 weeks for that to show up and get the PIN off the postcard
  5. Log back into the Google Local setup page and enter the PIN(s)
  6. Watch with glee as you're perfectly setup on Google!
  7. Go back 3 months later to see completely different information
  8. Work with Verizon and other Yellowpages companies to get their listings straight
  9. Watch your Google Local listings look more accurate, but not as good as what you gave them originally
  10. 3 months later go back to see completely different information again....and wrong info on the Yellowpages sites too :cry:
I have been through this crap 3 times. I have even gone through to Whois, Alexa, and other databases to update them just in case that is where information is coming from. I just don't have time to screw with this headache anymore. Our Toyota store's URL on Google is now our Scion site - BMW was pointing at MINI.....at least they're somewhat close because our Hyundai store was pointing at VW. What a mess!

I know I'm not the only one going through this.
 
#2
Alex - THIS IS MY BIGGEST NIGHTMARE with this job. You are definitely not the only one, in fact, if you get into the Google Local forums, it is a national epidemic. I would not be so stressed about this except that Web 2.0 links everything back to your Google Local listing! I check these every 8 weeks, and continue to make changes, and SLOWLY make progress, but it is a horrible experience. I don't understand why Google does not put in a much more effective process to manage these listings, especially considering how important they are with the new Web 2.0 initiatives...
 
#3
Well call me surprised. I went back into our Google business listings to change a few things and not only are they still showing with my changes a week later but now the Yellow Pages websites are starting to show what I put on Google :dance2:

Let's see how long this lasts.
 
#8
Nick, thanks for the heads up on that. I had head that InfoUSA was a main aggregater for Google Maps. I also Yahoo local was was well...any confirmation on that?

Google local business / maps is a royal pain the A$$. They mess up so many of my dealers information..wrong phone numbers, URL's and such. I log into the admin and all is 100% but on the front end..it's a mess.
 
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