Google Maps and Agent Smith

[Robert Paulson]

Me, Me, Me. Me, too.

It seems that new, unverified listings of my local B&M business have been cropping up. I just claimed a new one this morning that I don't believe was there two days ago.

But the thing I'm wondering is, after claiming it, it's showing as yet a third listing of the identical address for my Local Business Center account. If I were a Google employee, that would look like spam to me.

But I'm not a Google employee, so I'm trying to decide if there is harm in keeping this additional listing or if I should delete it altogether.

EP? Any thoughts?

[mblumenthal]

Google recognizes that there will be multiples given their data aggregation process. So I don't think that you will be penalized for leaving them. It is likely that at some point they would be conflated with your primary record anyways even if you don't claim them

However the disadvantage to you is that they might independently accrue reviews or web page citations thus denying your primary listing ranking strength.

My suggestion is to claim and suspend these new records.

Mike

[earlpearl]

RP:

You rang?

I'm not to good at thinking. I'd take M Blumenthal's advice above. ( ..its free)

[AppleVenus]

I think google maps have been done now, how about you move on and tackle the issue of adsense video units?

EP thinking ...... ?



AV

[Robert Paulson]

I really sweat out every single maps move I make, because I know that undoing can be just about impossible and doing it the right way feels like so much of a crapshoot.

Looks like I'm going to be owing multiples of $17.50...

Thanks Mike. And thanks EP, for pointing me to Mike's post in this thread.

[earlpearl]

RP: Here is an amazing insight. It is relevant to the likelihood of google coupons being used. Read the 8th comment over at Mike's blog piece about outrageous hijackings of local buisness records.

Scarcely a soul is going into the LBC record.

[Robert Paulson]

It almost sounded like he was joking around. Was he being serious?

Funny how you can get so far into the forest that all you can see is trees. Maybe the general populace is not quite as deep into the Maps experience as we are.

I did follow Mike's advice, sphincter puckered, and suspended two of the three identical maps listings for my company.

[earlpearl]

he was joking and I fell for it. and it isn't even april fools day.

[A.N.Onym]

That false comment troubled MC:

To even joke that someone at Google would ever do something like this is incredibly inappropriate. You may have intended it humorously, but to people at Google, this made-up comment was pretty offensive and has got quite a few people here angry.

Would you mind making your comment more clear that this comment was completely false, fabricated, made-up, a joke? Some big red bold text in the actual comment for example?

and Mike apologized.

[Robert Paulson]

I get that Mike was put in a spot where he probably needed to apologize, but it still rubs me the wrong way, and here's why:

As a business owner, when I launch a new product offering, there is an expectation that my new product is functional. Of my clients, I think that's a pretty reasonable expectation. I think that somehow, because Google's service is free to it's users, that burden of functionality is waived as some sort of informal, social contract; "We're not charging you to use our stuff, so don't get upset when it doesn't work."

But because they do earn billions from ad revenues and by company policy they value doing no evil, I think that waiver should be revoked. These are the best and brightest, right? Well paid, highly motivated, highly intelligent people? Their systems are being wrought into piles of binary garbage by simple locksmiths (no offense locksmiths, but I've met a few of you) performing very pedestrian hacking. Copy and paste, answer phone, punch in four numbers.

That hacking is affecting the livelihoods of many business owners, their employees and families. I think the social contract of "free services need not be functional services" is no longer acceptable. I can forgive the violin player in the subway station if he has a broken string while he plays his tune, collecting donations, but when it's a company whose owners fight over the size of the beds in their corporate jet, providing services that many times are inaccurate or easily manipulated, it's a lot harder to swallow.

Mike Blumenthal apologize? I'd like to see public apologies from representatives like Matt Cutts when flaws in the maps system appear like the one detailed recently on Mike's blog, creating such horrific results like dumpling reviews on a locksmith's site.

And I think some simple safeguards would be easy to implement - each verified listing requires an email address. Why not send out an email to the holder of the listing being changed? It's gotta be cheaper than the verification phonecall or postcard, and it's standard practice for most every other free and paid service out there. Then at the very least, the affected business would be made aware of the change (assuming the listing was in the right hands to begin with, but that's a whole other kettle of fish).