Advice on Landmarks/POI/Unclaimed Google Map Locations?

[cleverlyengaged]

I am working with a retirement community that wants to highlight amenities in Google Maps with unique listings for each one. Some of these amenities are public, with parking lots and a dedicated address. I have found many in Google Maps already that are unclaimed, possibly added by residents/users such as "Fishing Pond", "Pool", "Event Lawn", etc. Many don't have a street address, phone or website, just a city, state and zip.

My advice was to limit amenities only to those with a dedicated physical address and parking lot. Do you agree? I am also trying to nest them all under the main Community listing in Google My Business.

The problem is there are 30+ landmarks/amenities for one of the properties and since they are unclaimed, I am forced to create postcards for each one.

 

[GregM]

Hi,

I would not recommend undertaking this. More than likely these places don't qualify to be on the map in most cases and would likely be removed when found by dedicated mappers. They also in my opinion would not meet the standard to be claimed. You should be looking to create a custom Google My Map for these communities instead.

About - Google Maps

Discover the world with Google Maps. Experience Street View, 3D Mapping, turn-by-turn directions, indoor maps and more across your devices.

www.google.ca

 

[cleverlyengaged]

Hi,

I would not recommend undertaking this. More than likely these places don't qualify to be on the map in most cases and would likely be removed when found by dedicated mappers. They also in my opinion would not meet the standard to be claimed. You should be looking to create a custom Google My Map for these communities instead.

About - Google Maps

Discover the world with Google Maps. Experience Street View, 3D Mapping, turn-by-turn directions, indoor maps and more across your devices.

www.google.ca

Thanks for the feedback! My concern is they could continue to be created. I have tried to edit/remove several of these landmarks that are duplicates/not accurate, but my edits have not been published/can't be verified.

Some also have many reviews as an Event Venue, which would be a different category from the retirement community. My goal was to keep perhaps those with reviews, unique address, public location, unique category.

 

[GregM]

Hi,

Examples would need to be provided so I can get a better understanding.

 

[Phil Rozek]

My advice was to limit amenities only to those with a dedicated physical address and parking lot. Do you agree?

I agree with that part of the strategy: limit GMB pages to facilities that have a definable, distinct, bricks-and-mortar presence. Like cafes or indoor event venues. Other spaces would fall into more of a gray area.

Fewer than 30 but more than 0 would be eligible, I would guess. What your client needs to do is provide you a list of the specific amenities that according to your client should have GMB pages, and then you triage them. Some will just get removed, and others could cannibalize the visibility of the main GMB page.

Also, my hunch is that someone in-house or hired by the client is adding those rogue GMB pages. I'd be surprised if the retirees or guests are doing it.

 

[cleverlyengaged]

Thanks guys, that helped clarify.

We are moving forward with verifying public facing amenities. For example, there is a dog park at the community that is open to the public. It has an address and people typically drive to this park. I think it is a perfect candidate for having a location. We will be removing a residents only pool, since it isn't public. There are quite a few amenities we will remove, only keeping 3 to 5 points of interest

 

[Phil Rozek]

@cleverlyengaged, the dog park is a great example of an amenity that's public-facing and distinct enough that it warrants its own GMB page. (The residents-only pool is a good example of one that's not.)

It doesn't need its own phone number, and it's fine if the address is the same as that of the retirement community.

For an extra bump and maybe some organic visibility, consider creating a page on the site all about the dog park, and using that as your GMB landing page URL.