Google Places Removes Third Party Reviews from Search Results

[gosollc]

More info straight from Google's Blog - Google LatLong: The Ongoing Evolution of Place Pages

 

[Alex Snyder]

Either way, I found what I was looking for and I wanted to share this with the rest of you. This article explains it all.

Google Places Stops Stealing Reviews | TechCrunch

That article helps quite a bit. I especially like the first comment on it:

"Google was building Google Places on the backs of their content while at the same time trying to replace them." Funnily enough, the only times I ever visited those review sites was through Google Places.

I suspect this may hold true for most consumers and will probably continue to be the case. With links from Google Places to Yelp, DealerRater, and other review sites people will still see what is going on there. Google does not completely own reviews, they just own reviews on Google (one day we'll see if that is enough).

In the meantime we've got some work to do to make sure we're pointing people at Google Places review forms to boost our numbers there.

 

[joe.pistell]

In the past, Google's various departments operated independently and were allowed to fly-or-die on their own merit.

Google has done a wonderful job at NOT LOOKING LIKE THE 800 lb GORILLA. For the 1st time ever, I'm getting the ebby-jeebies from Google's behavior.

Has Google stepped into a special class of ebby-jeeby organizations? Is Google now becoming like:
--Microsoft
--Reynolds and Reynolds
--Congress

You know what I mean. The top management realizes that you can't live without them, so they shove shit on you you don't want.

It gives you the ebby-jeebies.

 

[kevinfrye]

Google Places reminds me of "Big Government" when it comes efficiency. Accurately updating your Google Places info is very difficult if you are a large group with multiple locations, as Google is pulling info from multiple sites, and the info that is merged is often wrong and outdated. People can fraudulently hijack Places listings. My biggest problem with fake negative reviews left by other dealers is on our Google Places sites, and you have about a one in one million chance that Google will do anything about it when you notify Google of a problem with your Places site. With the incredible importance of how our Google Places listing affects us as a business, perhaps Google should focus on:

* FIXING Google Places so that it displays accurate info first! That means having dedicated support people that you can contact to claim and accurately update your listing. That doesn't mean having an automated system that merges info haphazardly and a support system that is basically open forums with other frustrated people trying to help each other.
* Implement a validation and mediation process for Google reviews. If a false negative review is posted on your Google Places site and thousands of people see it each month, it is a significant penalty to your business, and Google does nothing to remove it. Your only alternative is to wait until more reviews "push" the negative review down, and it is still there affecting your star rating.

If Google has setup their search results to feature Google Places listings, and that is the consumers' "first look" at a business, doesn't it make sense that Google would make sure that Google Places is accurate and works optimally??? One example I will share is one of our Auto Mall locations that has 8 brands at one physical address. I can only list 5 categories in Google Places, so I do not search for multiple brands in Places, and I cannot even participate in Boost for all brands. If Google could fix something as simple as this, they could make more money with Boost... Sorry folks, when it comes to this change, the truth is that it is about the power of having a monopoly. It is NOT about providing the most relevant search results, which is the business Google is in...

 

[ed.brooks]

Sorry folks, when it comes to this change, the truth is that it is about the power of having a monopoly. It is NOT about providing the most relevant search results, which is the business Google is in...

Sorry folks, the business Google is in is selling advertising. Relevance matters only in that it brings eyeballs to see the advertising.

It seems to me that by forcing more reviews to Google Places (and away from third parties like Yelp!, DealerRater, etc.), they are simply working to make Google the exclusive authority. With third parties diminished, other Search Engines would have less quality content available on their SERPs and Google will find it easier to maintain it's dominance - which has been eroding slightly. That dominance assures increased revenue for Google.

Kevin outlines a number of changes that would help dealers, but the question is how would it help Google? And by help Google I mean make it more money. The suggestions would certainly help dealers but would cost Google money. And I just don't see Google implementing many changes that cost money without bringing in more eyeballs and hence, more revenue.

 

[kevinfrye]

I disagree Ed. I have spent countless hours with Google Boost on the phone trying to show them that if they could make some minor changes and improvements, we would spend a LOT more money with Google in advertising, with the simplest being the category issue (not sure if you realize it, but unless you select specific categories, you are not eligible for spending with Boost).

Or let's put this another way. If the Yellow Pages approached me about spending money with them to advertise, but their listing for me was inaccurate, I had no support person to contact to correct it, and the listing also had fraudulent false remarks about my business that my competitors had placed, but the Yellow Pages did nothing to remove, why in the world would I spend more money to advertise with the Yellow Pages?...

 

[ed.brooks]

I disagree Ed. I have spent countless hours with Google Boost on the phone trying to show them that if they could make some minor changes and improvements, we would spend a LOT more money with Google in advertising, with the simplest being the category issue (not sure if you realize it, but unless you select specific categories, you are not eligible for spending with Boost).

Or let's put this another way. If the Yellow Pages approached me about spending money with them to advertise, but their listing for me was inaccurate, I had no support person to contact to correct it, and the listing also had fraudulent false remarks about my business that my competitors had placed, but the Yellow Pages did nothing to remove, why in the world would I spend more money to advertise with the Yellow Pages?...

Kevin, I don't disagree that changes you outlined would be welcomed. I'm sure there is some calculus going on at Google weighing increased costs verses potential increased revenue (maybe they have an algorithm).

After countless hours spent, have you seen any of the changes you've advocated for?

 

[steve1021]

Let me throw something out there, putting aside whether Google is right or wrong for doing this. I've seen in a lot of posts people saying they have dedicated time and energy to managing their reviews on multiple sites, which I'm sure is not easy. Now however, you have Google Places coming forward in a big way to try and monetize this space. Taking into account how mammoth Google is and integral to people's, i.e. customers, every day lives, isn't this maybe a good thing? Think about it, people are coming to Google in droves everyday anyway, and now, in order to find dealer reviews, they can get all of them right there as well. I know they can already do that, since it had pulled reviews from 3rd party sites, but from a dealer perspective, now you won't have to worry about Dealer Rater (which personally I was never blown away by, seeing as how long they've been in the space they should be much bigger), Angie's List, etc. Now as a dealer, all you have to do is focus on 1 site, maybe 2 if you put Yelp in there. Doesn't that free up more time? Or am I making this sound too simple.

My theory had always been that someone was going to step up and really grab the lead on dealer reviews, and it's not shocking that it is Google who appears to be going for the crown. This may sound defeatest but I say why fight it, it is what it is.

 

[ajholland]

I checked our Place pages and there is still a link to get to the Dealerrater reviews, but just as everyone else, they are not being listed or counted in our stars. I personally don't see them bringing back any of the 3rd party sites, if anything, I could see them being removed completely in the future. As a group that has just recently started to get a good system in place, this is disappointing as we will have to figure out the best strategy. I am curious to hear what others are going to? Maybe make up your own "Rate Us" cards for Google Places and hand them out to 1/2 of your customers and give Dealerrater cards to the other 1/2?

 

[kevinfrye]

When Google Boost was introduced, I was thrilled as I thought this would be an opportunity (finally) to be able to speak to a LIVE person at Google about Google Places. I pushed for many changes, explained the shortcomings with Google Places, and showed how we could spend a LOT more money with Google if they could fix things, or at least help in our situation. They agreed that the changes were needed, but none were made. When I asked to email them screenshots, etc, for my case, they said they did not have an email that I could contact them at. They always pointed me back to the forums which other Google Users answer. You can imagine how frustrated I have been. Essentially, I was only dealing with a sales rep at Google who wanted to collect my money, but was not interested in much more than that.

With all that said, I do see one bright spot in this. As the Android increases in popularity, more and more folks are getting gmail addresses and Google accounts, and I hope to see as a result a greater increase in people using the Google rating tools.