Google places address missing

[MiriamEllis]

Thanks for the link, WebFeat!

Unfortunately, there are a number of violations going on on your Google Place Page. I will try to recap them as usefully as I can here:

1. You are not allowed to put a phone number in your business description. Only your actual legal business name belongs in that field. What is it? Junk Removal? Or is that a keyword you've tried to use?

2. You are not allowed to use an 800 number as your phone number.

3. You should not use geographic terms in your description or repeat words that are already in your legal business name. So, if your legal business name is Junk Removal, don't use 'junk removal' in the description and do not use the city name.

It's my opinion that these three things have made Google doubt the validity of your listing. My opinion is validated by the fact that when I search Google Maps for 'junk removal covington ky' I am seeing your business listed on the map with a round dot instead of a teardrop.

The round marker tends to appear in 1 of 3 scenarios:

1. Google does not recognize the address as valid (doesn't have it in their system)

2. The business owner did not enter their address fully or correctly

3. The business owner has clicked the box to hide their address when creating their Place Page

You will need to determine which of these 3 things is happening, and you will definitely need to clean up the violations on your Place Page.

Further, when I did a search in G Maps for your phone number: (800) 332-5888 ‎, I am seeing two different Place Pages for what appears to be the same business. Perform this search and figure out which of these listings is your legitimate, authoritative listing and then report the duplicate using the 'report a problem' link at the bottom of the duplicate Place Page.

All told, the listing is suffering from multiple problems. It will take effort and time to get the record cleaned up. I wish you luck and recommend that before you make a move in any direction, you read in full the Google Places Quality Guidelines: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528

Google's policies are not really intuitive, and without memorizing the guidelines, it's easy for anyone to make mistakes. Good luck!

Miriam

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Robert, I have no idea who would have thumbed down your response. You make lots of great contributions here in Q&A. I'm always glad to see you here:) Miriam

[RobertFisher]

It could have been one of my ex wives. They can be so spiteful!!

No worries, just wondered what they did not like....if I thumb you down I let you know why as do many others. That way we all learn. Your answer was excellent btw. One question would be is, if Google did not like the places page, why just not incorporate the new address as opposed to etelling hm in the WMT or Places dashboard??

But, given what you found, I could see how they would have some verification doubts. Best to you.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Robert,

Sorry - I am not making sense of this line:

why just not incorporate the new address as opposed to etelling hm in the WMT or Places dashboard??

???

[RobertFisher]

That is a bit unclear, sorry.

What I was asking is why Google would just not put the data in, instead of notifying him in WMT or in Places that they had doubts/concerns? I get that they are Google, but it seemed counter productive.

Thoughts?

[webfeatseo]

1. You are not allowed to put a phone number in your business description. Only your actual legal business name belongs in that field. What is it? Junk Removal? Or is that a keyword you've tried to use?

The business name is "1-800-DECLUTTER" so should I keep that then and remove the keyword listed after it?

2. You are not allowed to use an 800 number as your phone number.

I will update the phone number.

3. You should not use geographic terms in your description or repeat words that are already in your legal business name. So, if your legal business name is Junk Removal, don't use 'junk removal' in the description and do not use the city name.

Will clean this up some

1. Google does not recognize the address as valid (doesn't have it in their system)

I've been able to locate the address on google maps and when i enter it google pops up a proper format which I click. However when i update the page it just goes away

2. The business owner did not enter their address fully or correctly

Ive redone it several times now

3. The business owner has clicked the box to hide their address when creating their Place Page

Don't think so

Further, when I did a search in G Maps for your phone number: (800) 332-5888 ‎, I am seeing two different Place Pages for what appears to be the same business. Perform this search and figure out which of these listings is your legitimate, authoritative listing and then report the duplicate using the 'report a problem' link at the bottom of the duplicate Place Page.

We have multiple locations and are expanding here in the next couple of months. The other locations have no problems showing up but this one which is the main location is. The other listings are franchises and stuff.

[webfeatseo]

i thumbed you up. But it was a phone verification pin. Havent had any errors. Should I possible delete the entire listing and just restart?

[RobertFisher]

No worries, the thumb thing was actually a joke. (Even though I do have a very fragile ego!) I am glad you got it worked out, but I would definitely look at what Miriam said. Even if Google does not have an issue today, it does not mean they won't tomorrow. Remember, before Panda shut down a gazillion sites, those people were all just doing fine. 
My experience is that you are not served by using phone number or geography in categories and descriptions. So, consider changing those things that are most aggregious.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Again WebFeat,
Thank you for your responses. I should have linked to the 2 Place Pages so you could see what I am seeing when I do a phone number search. Are you saying that these 2 Place Pages are for distinct physical addresses, both within the town of Covington:

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=(800)+332-5888&hl=en&cid=6527745562403073607

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=(800)+332-5888&hl=en&cid=9396548231519875781

If these are, indeed, both active, staffed business offices with a unique street address, then each will need its own distinct local area code phone number. We've covered the 800 number issue, but beyond this, each location must have its own phone number (not something that redirects to a main number) per the guidelines.

And, obviously, you will need to remove any extra words from the business title on either Place Page.

Also, Google appears to be showing the same lack of assuredness about a 3rd location, which is also showing with the round dot instead of the tear drop.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=1-800-Declutter&hl=en&cid=11412252685154708462

Don't forget, if you've moved to a new address, you must undertake the work up updating your records web-wide. You will need to go to every directory/index/site where the old address is listed and have it changed, or the conflict in data can lead to confusion on Google's part and lack of trust in the data.

Can you please explain this a little more. You write:

"I've been able to locate the address on google maps and when i enter it google pops up a proper format which I click. However when i update the page it just goes away"

Do you mean that when you type in your street address in Places, you are being shown a Google Place Page with the street address on it? Or are you never able to see a street address on the listings at all? Also, what part of the listing is it that you are trying to make updates to.

I have an article for you to consider. Do you find your problem described in this:
http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/google-places-update-cycle-missing-descriptions.html

Also, see this:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/10/12/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-google-places-description-update/

Further, though this Mike Blumenthal article is speaking specifically to the infamous 'we do not support this location' message, I am wondering what would happen if you followed the steps for 'sharing and update' mentioned in this post: http://blumenthals.com/blog/2011/07/25/google-places-work-around-we-do-current-do-not-support-the-location/

To tackle another subject, your reply regarding your legal business name has made me very curious. I can only wonder how sophisticated Google is about handling legal business names that are 800 numbers, since they have had such an issue with people using 800 numbers instead of local ones. I would like to know what they would say about this, but do not see a record of this issue being raised with them.

Finally, over the years, I have seen many, many reports of updates to listings causing the listing to lose reviews, descriptions and other data. They seem to founder for awhile, only to return weeks later. This is one of the big headaches of Google Places. My feeling is that you've got some concerning violations on your Place Pages that are part of the problem, and that this is one of the reasons Google is not convinced of the validity of your locations. I would recommend cleaning up the listings to the best of your ability and then starting a thread in the Google Places Help Forum if the problem persists after a few more weeks.

Hope this feedback helps!
Miriam

[RobertFisher]

Sorry Webfeatseo, I totally missed last question there.

If you decide to delete the Places listing and start over, here is a great blog post on that very issue: The Right Way to Remove A Google Places Listing by 540SEO

Sometimes, the only way to ultimately get it right is to delete and start over. Remember, you will be better served by following the guidelines than by not. Here is another link to how to with a lot of links at bottom to good local experts: Optimizing Your Google Places Page by Geoff Kenyon

Miriam also gave you a good list of don'ts above. Good Luck