Google Places Updates

There have been two updates to the Places Quality Guidelines over the past two weeks. On July 21st, with the rollout of the new Places Page look, Google added this paragraph (bold added by me):

You cannot create Places listings for stores which you do not own, but which stock your products. Instead, consider asking the store owner to update their own Places listing with a custom attribute specifying brands or products they stock, including yours. While this data may not appear on the Place page, this information continues to help our system understand more about your business and ensure your organic listings appears and ranks appropriately on Google and Google Maps when potential customers perform searches related to your business.

This is a clear indication that while not displaying the information in the Additional details area of the Places listing they are in fact using the information for relevance and rank in retrieval of the listings and you want to still fill in the extra information.

Google added a paragraph to the Quality Guidelines allowing stores within other stores to explicitly note their relationship with the mall or container store:

Some businesses may be located within a mall or a container store, which is a store that contains another business. If your business is within a container store or mall, and you’d like to include this information in your listing, specify the container store in parentheses in the business name field. For example, Starbucks (inside Safeway).

Some Days are Just Shittier Than Others In Google Places

As you know, I am addicted to following and answering questions in the Google Places forums. My penchant for the foibles of others and Google is insatiable. This posting is why I just keep going back for more.

Someone uploaded pictures of poo on my business listing and I can’t get them off!!!

Topic of your question (reviews, categories, duplicate listing, etc.): VERY innappropriate Photos

Your business name as it is in your Google Places account: Jeff DiBlasi State Farm Insurance

Your business type/category (e.g. photographer, hospital, etc.): Auto Insurance

URL(s) if applicable: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=lansdowne+pa+state+farm&hl=en&cid=12400822114645752135

Someone put REALLY inappropriate photos of pictures of poo on my business listing.  I’ve discovered this business is currently claimed in 2 accounts and NEITHER account have these photos but it says “from the owner” on them.  I need these off my listing ASAP.  I’ve posted on other threads and reported the photos several times and I’m at a loss of what to do.  This is severely damaging to the company’s reputation and it’s been weeks since I first reported them.
 


 
Here is a screen shot of the Places Page. Sure enough there IS poo on his Places Page and according to Google it was put there by the owner (click to view larger :) ). Take a gander at the categories while you are there.

Update 1:45: Commenter Joe has noted that Google has sent in the cleaning crew and cleaned up the shit issue for Jeff’s Place as of 1:45 EST. They can work quickly when need be. :)

Update: 3:00: I just got off the phone with the State Farm office in Lansdown and apparently someone from Google actually picked up the phone and called Jeff DiBlasi’s earlier in the day. Not only can they work quickly but they seem to know how a phone works.

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