1What is Google Places?
2Why doesn’t my listing show up in search results?
3What does “There is no data for your request” on my Google Places dashboard refer to?
4Why is the information that shows up for my company on Google Maps not the same as what I added via my dashboard?
5Why am I unable to verify my listing by phone?
What is Google Places?
Google Places is a product of Google Inc. presented officially on 20 April 2010. Its main purpose is to collect data for businesses and visualize it in the search results for particular search queries. Google Places is still not available everywhere. You can look up the current availability in your country via this Mapping tool availability page. Some of the benefits of Google Places are outlined here.
Why doesn’t my listing show up in search results?
Ranking of Google Places listings is based on an algorithm. There are hundreds of factors to be considered, but the most important ones are: relevance, distance, prominence. You can read more on each of these in the official “Ranking of Listings” article by Google. The Local Search Ranking Factors are a series of annual surveys, which showcase best Google Places practices shared by top experts in the field. You can see the latest issue here. Of course, this analysis is bound to have its inaccuracies, but it is one of the most representative round-ups in the area. It would also be useful to check the “SCORING LOCAL SEARCH RESULTS BASED ON LOCATION PROMINENCE” patent by Google Inc. Alternatively, you can always contact us as this is well within the area of our expertise.
What does “There is no data for your request” on my Google Places dashboard refer to?
If you see the text “There is no data for your request” in your Google Places dashboard, it means that there were no impressions or actions related to your Google Places listing during the last 30 days. This message usually shows up for a newly created listing or a listing whose search visibility is minimal because of poor local search optimization efforts. Data will start displaying when your listing starts showing up on the front pages for famous keywords, i.e. such which many people are searching for.
Why is the information that shows up for my company on Google Maps not the same as what I added via my dashboard?
Not always what you see on your dashboard would be displayed fully or in the same way at the front end in the Google search results. There could be many reasons for that and here are the most common ones:
1. Your listing has merged with another listing – if the information that shows up on your Google Places listing is completely different, it is possible that it might belong to another business whose listing Google erroneously merged with yours. Currently the only option offered is to report the problem. Unfortunately, it might take a few weeks for Google to resolve the problem.
2. Incorrect/outdated data from around the web was associated with your listing – Google scrapes and gathers data from third-party business data providers. After they have gathered enough data, they try to associate it with the corresponding Google Places page. Sometimes pieces of this data might come from an outdated business listing on a business directory, such as Yellow Pages. In order to prevent or solve such a problem you have to make sure that your business data appears the same way everywhere on the web.
3. Since some changes in July 2011, Google simply does not display publicly all the information that one can input. Such data includes business email, service areas, payment methods, additional details, additional phone numbers. Also, there are some other pieces of information, such as business description and working hours, that take additional verification until they show up.
If you are unsure which of these is the cause of your troubles, feel free to contact us for a consultation.
Why am I unable to verify my listing by phone?
Currently Google provides three verification options – by mail, by phone, and by SMS. However, the availability of these varies depending on the country the business is located at. For example, in the US the SMS verification option is never available. Also, Google does not provide phone verification in most countries in an effort to try to prevent spam. However, there are some neat workarounds to the verification process.
