Can you add customer categories

[lrios]

Is there anyway to add custom categories when doing a mass upload because it is saying all our branches have errors because the categories are wrong. We found a list of the UK categories to use but it won't let us use those, it is only letting up use U.S ones even though we are in the UK.

Anyone know how to get over this?

Thanks

 

[Linda Buquet]

So sorry but I don't deal with bulk at all so don't have an answer for you.

Possibly someone else here will weigh in with an answer. Otherwise I normally refer people to Mike Blumenthal for a consult.

 

[lrios]

Thanks Linda, I have previously been on his site and used the category codes list he provided but I think they are out of date because these are the ones we used and they didn't work: Category Search

Do you have a link for the new list because I just cannot find it! No problem if not

 

[Phil Rozek]

You can still use custom categories for bulk upload, last I heard.

Can't comment on the other issue - the rejections/errors - though.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Linda, I have previously been on his site and used the category codes list he provided but I think they are out of date because these are the ones we used and they didn't work: Category Search

Do you have a link for the new list because I just cannot find it! No problem if not

I'm pretty sure there is only one. This one: Blumenthals Olean NY & Bradford Pa- strong support and a personal touch. Web Hosting, Design, e-commerce, Macintosh Support- Google Places Category Tool - Google Categories - Google Maps

But trying to keep it up is a volunteer effort so not sure it's always 100% accurate.

 

[lrios]

Thanks Linda! Much appreciated. Just one more quick questions, are categories a really important aspect in Google+ Local and how a branch ranks?

 

[whitespark]

Irios, categories are the #1 detail in your listings that affect ranking. It's the key area you want to optimize. You want to make sure you have selected as many applicable categories as possible.

Like Phil said, I last I heard the bulk upload is the only way to get custom categories. One detail to consider is that you cannot include city, state, or other geo terms in the categories. Bulk uploads get manually reviewed by a human at Google so perhaps the categories weren't appropriate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lrios]

Thank you! We are on the old interface and our bulk uploads for custom categories are not working. When we bulk upload it only accepts U.S. categories but when we manually change it through the dashboard it does accept the GB ones (we are based in England). Do we need to update to the new dashboard, is there a way to do it?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Do we need to update to the new dashboard, is there a way to do it?

No there is no way to request or hurry the upgrade. They are doing them in batches and it's just a matter of when they get to you. Seems to be escalating though and I think in the next couple months or so almost everyone will be upgraded. (Just a guess.)

 

[whitespark]

Hmm, I don't have enough experience with bulk feeds to be able to help with this. I'll see if Mary Bowling has any ideas.

 

[Mary Bowling]

I have no explanation. It sounds to me as if you may just be in one of those limbos where some of your stuff might be ruled by the new system and some by the old system. Perhaps Google is no longer accepting feeds using the old categories in preparation for the transition to new categories. I'd contact Google support and ask them.

 

[whitespark]

Check out this comment on Mike's blog. Looks like they may have recetnly disabled the ability to add custom categories via bulk upload:
Google MapMaker Update Summary: One Database to Rule Them All | Understanding Google Places & Local Search

 

[lrios]

Thanks so much Darren. Just to confirm, don't suppose it's likely that we will be able to bulk upload custom categories with the new dashboard?

 

[Mary Bowling]

Lynda, IMO, no.
1. they attracted way too much spam
2.AdWords Express (the main profit center for Google in Local right now) is totally organized around categories and it's hard to imagine how it could work well with custom categories
3. Google probably has other things in the works that will also key off of Places categories