Managing Google Map Location for a remote wilderness lodge

[bzmark]

Hi all, I’m working on a Google Maps and Google Plus issue for a client who runs a unique, very remote wilderness lodge. The lodge isn’t located near any road -- you have to fly 100+ miles on a small plane.

Their mailing address is a PO Box in a dingy little town 100+ miles from their actual mountain location. Therefore, Google maps and Google Plus think the lodge itself is located in this little town, and it shows them there on maps. That’s bad, because the kind of guests who come to this remote lodge wouldn’t want to stay in that little town.

We would like Google to understand that the lodge’s location is not the same as its mailing address. We have the GPS coordinates for the actual location.

My question is: how do I get Google Plus and Google Maps to correctly show the lodge pin at its GPS location on the map, rather than in the town that hosts its remote PO box?

Thanks for reading! Any insights?

[TimKelsey]

Hey there,

That's a tough situation and to be honest I don't know exactly what you should do. Technically, you shouldn't be able to create a Google Places page for a business that only has a PO Box. They do this because they only want to list businesses with physical locations, but you do have a physical location - it's just somewhere else.

Anyway, I have a couple ideas. One is to edit the pin drop on your listing. If you edit the address for your listing, there should also be an option to edit the marker location (see attached). Just drag it to the appropriate spot.

If that doesn't work, you could try logging into Google Map Maker, requesting an edit to your location information and then leaving an explanation for the reviewers.

And if that doesn't work, you could just create your own custom map. This wouldn't change the information Google has about the business but at least you would be able to link to it from your website and show customers the actual location.

Hope this helps!

Tim

riPzcKK

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Bzmark,

May I ask for a little clarification on the business model. By 'lodge' do you mean a hotel (i.e. a staffed location to which guests come) or is this a one-off vacation rental (i.e. a single, un-staffed cabin out in the woods)? Please clarify.

[bzmark]

Hi Miriam, thanks for asking. It's a hotel.

[bzmark]

Thanks for your suggestions! I have a feeling this is the way I'm going to end up going. If so, I will post back re: what works.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Bzmark,

Thanks for the clarification. The reason I asked is that it isn't permitted to create a Google+ Local page for a non-staffed vacation rental. Sounds like you're in the clear, as far as that's concerned, with this lodge.

I feel that Tim has correctly assessed this situation. There are multiple issues here.

1. P.O. boxes are not allowable addresses, so at some point, someone created a Google+ Local page (and likely other citations) for a location that is in violation of the Google Places Quality Guidelines.

2. Google's local product is mailing address-based - meaning that it is intended to feature data about businesses with physical addresses at which mail is received and to which humans come. While humans do come to this lodge, mail apparently doesn't come to it, taking it outside of Google's definition of a true local business and making it an unlikely candidate for local inclusion.

3. Since the lodge doesn't receive mail at its remote location, it would be impossible for it to receive a postcard for the purposes of verification, again, making it ineligible.

So, I think where you are at right now is that your client's business name exists within in Google's local product when it should never have been included in the first place, lacking a mailing address that would be legitimate in the eyes of Google. The client's location is being misrepresented by Google, and there isn't a clear path for cleaning this up, because there is no genuine mailing address to substitute in a cleanup campaign.

If the wrong location is misrepresenting the business and misleading customers, you could try to get the page deleted, but I think the best thing to do here would be to go through the Google MapMaker and Google And Your Business fora to see if you can make direct contact with Google staff for guidance with this matter. Typically, I would be sending you through a troubleshooter like this one (https://support.google.com/places/) but as you don't have a legit mailing address, it won't get you very far.

I think your only hope is direct contact with Google staff, who may either help you remove the listing or may allow you to edit it in some way. They won't be happy about the P.O. box, of course, but they may have some solution for you that will ameliorate the fact that the business is currently being misrepresented and is potentially misleading customers.

In the meantime, I do like Tim's suggestion of creating a custom Google map to embed on your website so that, at least, the website is properly directing guests to the location.

In sum, the business model is not appropriate for inclusion in Google's local products and your task is to do all you can to prevent potential guests from being misdirected.