Google Maps

Inside Scoop on Google Maps Rankings

on July 14th, 2008 by Michael D Jensen

Eric Enge held a fantastic interview, well worth a full read, with Google’s Carter Maslan, the Director of Product Management for Google Local.

Several gold nuggets can be found in the interview, so I wanted to highlight the ones that popped out to me the most:

1) Proximity to city center not important anymore

Carter Maslan: Exactly, as for proximity to centroid that is an old issue which we’ve addressed, so that is not too important any more. Early in the history of local search people would try to setup locations near the centroid, but that is just not that important any more.

2) Claiming a listing not the important thing, its the content

Carter Maslan: Sure. So claiming your listing by itself is not so much the issue but what is important is having good control over the way that your business is described.

3) Reviews are looked at and considered, but don’t carry as much weight as other factors

Carter Maslan: We do look at reviews. It is not so much something that will radically change where you are in the results, but we do consider it.

I think reviews may teeter totter a bit in the algorithms, and find a happy medium of weight they give to rankings. Why not rank a local business better if it has quality reviews, much more beyond its competitors? When there is that extra layer of content about their content (dare I say meta data), local search engines would be dumb to ignore it because that’s exactly what I want to see.

4) Links AND citations are both significant contributors, more so links (specifically anchor text)

Carter Maslan: Just the fact that there is an implicit link in the geospatial world, is not as strong as the explicit anchor text that goes straight to an URL that we know is a definitive domain for a business. But yes, it does help to have your business well-described and geo-coded in references on different pages.

This is where not having a website is a major disadvantage, not only for missing traffic from general searches, but the weight it carries in Local Search.

5) Get a KML file, it helps

Carter Maslan: Yes, it helps a lot in knowing the precise geographic location that is being described by a page so it is definitely good to have a sitemap that references a KML file with an accurate description of the entities referenced geographically.

I have blogged several times about doing whatever it takes to gain “trust” with Google, and a KML file is great because it is somewhat “authenticated” when you get the coordinates, etc. and gives Google another reason to acknowledge your business and its location.

more

Nationwide Google Maps Spam…All Gone

on May 3rd, 2008 by Michael D Jensen

Yesterday both Stephen Peron of Imnotadoctor.com and then Mike Blumenthal of blumenthals.com discussed some nationwide Google Maps spam by a company called Big Local. As of 4 PM (Mountain time) today while having a discussion with Mike the spam was still there, and now at 9 PM it is gone!

The oddest part about it was that the listings appeared to be slurped in rather than being submitted because they could still be “claimed” by the business (which isn’t the case when you submit manually or in bulk). There was no evidence of their phone number or addresses published, so it had to be submitted or through one of Google’s data providers.

The Google Maps spam was both Big Local’s fault (devious submissions) and Google’s fault (poor spam filters). When you’ve got a city like Los Angeles where Google’s Local onebox shows all 10 listings for one company, there is definitely an issue on both sides.

Google Maps Spam Los Angeles

Google has obviously responded and wiped out Big Local from any local listings, as well as any listings altogether (except for clovers.com which redirects to their site).

Google Maps Spam Los Angeles

Great job to Stephen and Mike for getting the word out, and to Google Maps for responding fairly quickly (2 days, and on a Saturday!).

more

Google Maps Shows Ad Markers for Local Business Advertisers

on April 11th, 2008 by Michael D Jensen

Google has expanded its Adwords into its own Google Maps with a clever twist. Instead of putting the listing at the very top of the google local search listings, Google catches your attention with a special marker:

Zales Local Ad Map

and then gives listing details when you either click on the icon:

Zales Local Ad Open

or when you scroll down to the very bottom of the local search results on the left hand side, even after the next and previous links:

Zales Local Ad Text

Local business advertisers don’t appear limited to the use of a letter either, here is a realtor in Chicago:

Vetro Chicago Local Ad

Interesting, the “dot” marker doesn’t seem to have anything to do with realtor company’s logo or branding.

This brings up a few different questions I have for Google Maps:

1) How many ads will you show at the same time? It looks like just one right now, but I could imagine being able to fit 2 or 3 without being too obtrusive.

2) Will you start letting businesses put in a favicon or a completely custom marker?

3) Will the typical Adwords ranking factors come into play for having the top spot (or 2 or 3) on the map?

more

Another Casualty of Local Search Data Inaccuracy

on March 31st, 2008 by Michael D Jensen

My wife had an appointment to see a doctor this morning. We have recently moved so this was her first visit. Right before she left she asked if I would write down the address. I typed in the doctor’s name in Google Maps, and printed off a map with the address of the only listing it found. Then I get a phone call 5 minutes before her appointment is to start, it was my wife. That was his old office! I scramble for the Yellow Pages (don’t like opening that) and find his current address! A live results search can’t tell me what a printed huge mass of paper phone book can? So now she’s late to her appointment, not happy with me and for being late, and has to apologize to the doctor.

I was talking with Mike Blumenthal about this today, and his response was “ah another casualty” (hence the title, thanks Mike). He has posted recently some interviews about holding local to higher standards (and here). I knew the data was inaccurate, but it really hits home when you (or your wife) experience it first hand.

Of course Google has a disclaimer, right there on the bottom right of the map is the Terms of Use, part of which says:

Google makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by these third parties. Your use of third party content may be subject to additional terms that can be found on our Legal Notices page.

So they lay the blame on third parties. Anyone in business understands this, sure, but really if Google is going to profit from this data I would expect it to be updated and accurate. How can a printed phone book of hundreds of pages have the address right and Google not have a clue?

This afternoon I went back to the listing and clicked the “edit” button. I edited the listing with the actual name of the doctor’s practice, and the doctor’s name, and the new address. Thankfully they are at least relying on some user-generated content (UGC), it’s better than nothing.

more