Google Places "Pending" out of options

[johnshearer]

I used to enjoy the first place position for google places/local, and 30 reviews in the old pre-google local. I am a painting contractor in Seattle. Then in April 2012 I moved my shop six miles to a new location. My reviews were dropped and places moved to "pending" when I changed my address.

I am now in my 8th month pending approval for my google places page:

Seattle House painting local page

I have drilled down and exhausted every resource; including verification, having all my citations exactly in a row. All my review sites like Yelp and angie's list are address/info accurate. I used Yext to check all my local citations. I am set to do not show my address as Google indicates is best practice. There is nothing I have missed...but I am still "pending".

Do I need to hire a David Mihm? I am very frustrated seeing one competitor using multiple addresses and having two listings.

Any help or insight greatly appreciated.

shearer_painting_places_.png

[TheeDigital]

Have you tried reaching out to Google local support yet?  We'd give them a try.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi John,

Oh, those pending states are so frustrating. So, there could be many things causing this, but let's take a look at your Google+ Local page. I am seeing something on it that I've never seen anywhere before. Your business description looks like this:

Shearer Painting is a Seattle Painting Contractor started in 1990,  a full service painting contractor recognized as one of Seattle's Top ten painting contractors.

find out more information aboutHistoric House Painting, Wood Staining and finishing, Benjamin Moore PaintSee a walk through of interior painting project on a historic home  and a Seattle House Painting project on a 1913 built home- You shouldn't be using the word 'Seattle' in your business description. It's not in the written guidelines, but many people in the Local SEO community believe that the use of GEO terms triggers a penalty.- But the thing that is really jumping out at me is the links in the description. I've never ever seen that before. I didn't even know you could put links in the description. My eyes popped open, and I have to wonder if there is any chance that this is the root of your pending status.According to Google And Your Business Forum TC, Joy Hawkins:"_If a listing's status goes back to pending after being active, it could be any number of issues, including a quality guidelines violation, and needs to be evaluated on an individual basis."_See:
http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/local-search/1278-pending-status-after-verification.htmlSo, perhaps there is a problem with that description, but on the other hand, as you've moved, I'm curious about the steps you took with your Google+ Local listing. These days, Google's advice is that if you move, you're supposed to close your old listing and open a new one, though there has been much debate in the Local SEO and MapMaker communities about whether it's possible to avoid this if you move within the same city. How did you handle your move?Regarding reviews, yes, it is common to lose them when you move. Google considers your new location a new place.What attempts have you made to communicate with Google? What response have you received.Interestingly, as your listing is live, John, how exactly is the pending status affecting you beyond a note in the dashboard? And, apparently, loss of G. Places analytics data?Can you provide some further information? Moves and pendings are complex, and in the end, communication with Google will likely be the only way to resolve your issues, but I'd be very interested in your answers to my questions and will help more if I can.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi John,

I'm stopping back in with another comment. The presence of links in your business description so surprised me that I brought it up in a discussion with Local Search Godfather, Mike Blumenthal. He informed be that this function has actually been available for some time...though it's rarely seen. Apparently, these links must be personally vetted by Google, so if you've got them, I must assume they are approved.

So, now, we go back to the questions about how you handled the move, how you've communicated with Google, what the effects of the pending status actually are on your business, and the presence of geo terms in your business description.

[johnshearer]

Miriam, I see you recommend I delete old places and start again. All else has failed.

I moved last April and changed all my citations (yelp, angies, superpages, etc) I even use YEXT. All citations are identical.

I used to get 100-350 clicks from local serp until april 2012...so my business has been dramatically effected.

google_places.png local_december_2011.png

[johnshearer]

I moved six miles. I hesitate to delete my old listing...but I am out of options. Google communication has been boiler plate..do this, do that, wait a bit.

I have exhausted every option and explored every detail except deleting my listing.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi John,

I'm saying that this is what Google recommends, in the case of moving. Their guidelines regarding this are here:

http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154102

Nyagoslav Zhekov (a very talented Local SEO and chum) wrote quite a good article on this topic that I think you should definitely read regarding closing a listing vs. editing one:

http://www.ngsmarketing.com/closing-an-old-google-local-listing-vs-editing-it/

If you read both of the above resources, you will see that Google recommends certain procedures, but that some Local SEOs are experimenting with whether it is possible to keep a listing an edit if the move is within the same city. Given the controversy over this, I don't want to advise you one way or the other. I want to give you the facts so that you can make your own decision.

I believe if you brought this up in the Google and Your Business Forum, you would be advised to close the old listing, but not everyone agrees with this advice.

Hope this clarifies what I'm telling you, John.

[johnshearer]

This is scary but I am going to delete my listing.

Please see picture show I delete places & map?

I think google is confused; although I have over 80+ citations. My verified map location shows but not the google places for universal search  or places SERP.

places_delete.png

[MiriamEllis]

Hi John, I'm not sure that's the best decision, honestly. Before you do that, I would advise you to hire a heavy hitting local SEO to help you with this. BTW, the screenshot you are showing me (I'm not sure which page that is) is not the one I would expect to see. Read this thread and look at the 4th post on it:

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/1580-hooray-new-business-moved-feature-google-local.html

I am still not sure how the pending status is actually affecting you, John, as your listing is clearly live. I had asked about this, but don't believe you responded. I had also asked what the history of your communication with Google was about this, but did not see a reply on this from you. My advice is that you hire someone to dig fully into this beyond what I can do here in Q&A and figure out what the best steps will be for you. You mentioned David Mihm at the start of this thread, but David is no longer doing client work as of GetListed being acquired by SEOmoz. I would recommend any of these providers:

Mike Blumenthal, http://www.blumenthals.com/blog

Andrew Shotland, http://www.localseoguide.com

Mary Bowling, http://www.marybowling.com/

Matthew Hunt, http://www.smallbusinessonlinecoach.com/

I'd offer my own services but I am so busy right now, John, and troubleshooting complicated problems like this isn't really my area of client work. However, I do believe you would benefit from paying for an hour or two of consulting time from one of these folks BEFORE you make such a big decision. You need to present the whole history of your case and get personalized guidance. Hope my suggestion may save you from some headaches.