Hi Nyagoslav, I'm not sure I understand your question:
"
The problem here is - if after you have paid Yext to fix your listings so that you could skip all the hassle of creating, claiming, fixing them, then why should you look for a workaround after they "release their control"?"
After you have Yext fix, create and claim them and then you cancel, if there was a workaround to prevent you having to do that all over again, we'd love that, right? And claiming them before canceling might do it. That's the workaround I'm hoping for. Is that what you are questioning? I'm a little confused. sorry.
If you're wondering why it matters, it's because I see clients all the time get locked into something, then want to leave but are too afraid to leave for fear of what would happen. I want them to know what will happen, number one, and if the consequence is something we don't like, I want them to know if it's devastating, reparable, and how easy or not it is to fix.
But to address this question of yours: "The question stays - after they release their control, will the directories keep showing the information, or they will take it down and/or revert it back to what it was?"
I did get an answer to that from UBL and it might shed some light on Yext. I quizzed UBL at length on the phone about this because I did not want any business I put in their system to lose their listings and have to start all over again if they quit. This is what they told me and it's on their website too:
"If you do not renew after the notices we send, your record will be removed from the active file that we provide to directories. Different sites and distribution partners will treat deactivated UBL listings in different ways, according to their policies. Some may keep the listings active and some may delete them. This is beyond our control."
https://www.ubl.org/faq.aspx
On the phone they elaborated a bit more and said that "some directories might not think the businesses are still in business if they disappear from UBL and for that reason might remove them."
That seemed more or a scare tactic to me because I didn't for a minute believe a directory would remove a business for that reason if the reason they give is true.
They also said that if I were to claim a listing I would not be able to update that listing from UBL so advised against it.
But the point is, at least with UBL and I would assume it would be true with Yext as well, that directories do not remove listings because your subscription with them ceases, and Howard confirms that when he says the core data will stay intact. So that part we know. How much remains is the question. UBL wasn't forthcoming with that either as they wanted me to believe they would disappear entirely. But they were also the ones who told me that claiming a listing would break the pipe because it locks them down. Hence my reason in thinking that claiming them might keep all the data in.
As for Howard's comment, (I'm glad you printed that here, thank you): "
grant our partners a world-wide non-exclusive license to any listing data we supply to them"
Maybe if we read between the lines here, we can figure it out. What this says to me is that whatever data is entered into their system, they are making the claim it's theirs (as indicated by the fact that they "grant a license" to use it). Does this also mean they have an agreement with those directories that says since it's theirs they can take it away? If so, then maybe claiming those listings isn't going to do any good because maybe Yelp and others had to agree to not really write the data to their own database.
We can make guesses all day about how we think their algorithms were written, but the only way to know for sure is to get some feedback from someone who quit.
I'm wondering though if their small print when you sign up sheds some light on this. Phil, if you're reading this, can you look at your client's contract or is that long gone?
Sorry that's so long. They don't call me Chatty Kathy for nothing.
Kathy
