Confused re the Different Types of Google+ Local Pages?

Linda Buquet · Aug 26, 2013

Mike Blumenthal just did a post over at LocalU attempting once again (as we often have to do) to explain & illustrate the various types of local pages.

What Kind of Google+ Page Is It? – A Visual Guide to Google+ Local Pages

I attempted to clarify even further in my comments there:

Jackson, I believe you are right. Listings in the new dash that neither you or Google upgrade to G+ have no follow button and no check mark.

Mike your example of new dash for your Laptop test site, I don’t believe is a pure Place page so it is sort of a confusing example. (If it was it would not have a follow button.)

Since it has the check mark and a Follow button, it’s an upgraded/merged G+ page now. I believe Google upgraded it to G+ (or maybe you tried the one button upgrade).

Google upgraded my test page automatically, because I never did it.

But there are a ton of new dash pages out there that are not merged and they don’t have Follow buttons.

To simplify all this, I boil it down to 2 features. I just tell folks to look for reviews and the red follow button and that will tell the story.

Listings created in Places (regardless of whether in the old or new dash) that are not merged or upgraded, have reviews – but no follow button.

G+ pages have follow button, but no reviews.

Merged/upgraded G+ pages have both reviews and follow button.[/FONT

The reason I boil it down to simply reviews and follow button is there are a variety of situations where the tabs could be different based on what the setting are. There are also pure business pages with a check mark but no local Place page attached. So if you isolate and just look for reviews and follow button, it's more clear cut what type of page it is.

Head over to the link above and view the screenshots Mike shows and comments that follow.

Here is my previous post from awhile back attempting to clarify and show the different types of pages.

Crazy Google Local Page Name Conundrum - Clearing the Confusion

It's still confusing I know and keeps changing, plus there are other variations I know.
Any questions?

russofford · Sep 17, 2013

Linda Buquet said:
Listings created in Places (regardless of whether in the old or new dash) that are not merged or upgraded, have reviews – but no follow button.

G+ pages have follow button, but no reviews.

Merged/upgraded G+ pages have both reviews and follow button.[/FONT

So, part of my confusion is knowing what 'types' of pages there are in the first place!

To understand this better, I reversed your statements above in the following manner (to show me what types of pages you are talking about):

To put it another way... if the page/listing:

Has Reviews but No Follow Button = G+ Local listing (not merged/upgraded)

Has Follow Button but No Reviews = G+ page

Has Reviews & Has Follow Button = Upgraded/Merged G+ page

Are those the 3 types of pages being discussed these days (in September of 2013?) ... G+ Local listings, G+ Page, and upgraded/merged G+ Page...?

Also...

I am just trying to understand the technical lingo/jargon used currently here... but the LocalU article seems to use the name "Social Google+ Page"... is the what you call a merged/upgraded G+ Page?

Do you distinguish the different types of pages by calling them 'pages' vs. 'listings'?

Sincerely,

Russ Offord

Linda Buquet · Sep 17, 2013

Basically since Google has not given clear direction and there are not clear brand names for all the different pages and STAGES of pages, everyone just makes it up as they go along and tries to be descriptive about what type of page it is.

But even Google calls the wrong pages by the wrong names - names according to their own help docs.

But I just got off a conference call with Google and this issue came up. No clarity was provided because there really is no way to explain what's going on.

Internally and on the Google forum Googlers tend to refer to Place pages as "local listings" and G+ pages as "pages". So they make a distinction between listings and pages BUT the average consultant or SMB would not get that minor distinction because the terms are almost synonymous. Too vague!

According to Google's own help docs here are 2 of the page names...

A Google+ Local page is the consumer-facing brand for the public page that used to be called a Place page. It's the page with reviews but no social. (See that link, it's talking to CONSUMERS about leaving reviews etc.)

BUT the business owner side of that same page (the page with reviews) - the dashboard is still called Places for Business. But then there is the old dash and new dash so that creates confusion too.

A Local Google+ page (almost same name but TOTALLY different page with just the words flipped) is a Google+ Business page in local category that DOES NOT have reviews, only social. (See that link it's all about circles and posts and the social features. It's a G+ Business page set as local category.)

Then you can merge both pages and there is no name for that one. Many say something like a G+ Local page with social features.

Google even calls the wrong page by the wrong name as I quoted in this post. Then consultants get confused and call the pages with opposite names. It's just a complete clusterF*

But here at least Colan and I are pretty consistent about our naming conventions.

- Has Reviews but No Follow Button = G+ Local listing (not merged/upgraded)
(But I still usually call it a Place page because that's what it is in the dashboard and I think it more clearly distinguishes from the other names/stages of pages.)

- Has Follow Button but No Reviews = G+ Business page

- Has Reviews & Has Follow Button = Upgraded or Merged G+ page

Again Google is in process of upgrading all Place pages to Merged G+ Pages. (Which is why they and I have been consistently saying don't create a G+ page yet and DO NOT MERGE.)

THEN everyone will have the same page, same features, same dash and all this confusion will go away. Can't happen soon enough for me!

russofford · Sep 17, 2013

Thanks for the 'lingo' clarifications!

So, a couple more questions for us confused folk...

- How or when does one get 'the new dashboard'?
- Can one have an 'original' Google Places listing yet have a new dashboard? (or are the new dashboards only for G+ pages?

Thanks,

Russ

Colan Nielsen · Sep 17, 2013

russofford said:
- How or when does one get 'the new dashboard'?
- Can one have an 'original' Google Places listing yet have a new dashboard? (or are the new dashboards only for G+ pages?

Hi Russ,

There are two ways to find yourself with the new dashboard.

Google upgrades your old style dash to the new one. Google is doing this gradually, in waves. Simple, single listing accounts first, more complicated, multiple listing accounts after.
Create a new Google account. All new accounts will have the new Google Places dash.

The answer to your second question is yes. A G+ Local page that lives in the old dash or the new dash is essentially the same beast, until it's upgraded to have the social features.

russofford · Sep 17, 2013

OK, so... if one day I log in to one of my client's plain-old original 'Google Places' account and don't see the ol' familiar dashboard anymore... that means my dashboard is considered 'upgraded to the new dashboard'... which leads to more questions...

- Does anything change to on the listing pages when the dashboard upgrades?
- Do the listings themselves also get merged/upgraded when the dashboard upgrade? (or is this a completely different step?)

Thanks,

Russ

Colan Nielsen · Sep 17, 2013

russofford said:
- Does anything change to on the listing pages when the dashboard upgrades?
- Do the listings themselves also get merged/upgraded when the dashboard upgrade? (or is this a completely different step?)

First Q: No, the live page will remain unchanged. However, if/when Google auto-upgrades the listing, which it has started to do with some listings in the new dash, then the live G+ Local page will have the social features and a lovely rainbow coloured cover photo.

Second Q: Google is auto-upgrading pages in the new dash. However, I don't know if they necessarily do this at the same time that an old dashboard is converted to the new dashboard, probably not.

Linda Buquet · Sep 17, 2013

Colan did a good job of answering other but I wanted to get clarification on this one.

russofford said:
- Does anything change to on the listing pages when the dashboard upgrades?

My listings page, do you mean the live listing or the page in dash that shows your listings?

If the latter, there are quite a few changes inside the new dash.

Here is one of the main posts on the new dash so you know what it looks like and how it differs:
Major Update - New Google Places Dashboard - All-in-one Local Listing Management

And here's what we know so far on the auto-upgrade:
Google Begins Auto-Upgrade of G+ Local Listings to Google+ Business Pages

shondarogers · Sep 19, 2013

ok - i'm scared to ask this question because it is probably so basic and I've been through Laura's training and should KNOW the answer but...do you merge a listing be verifying it? is a verified listing the same as a merged listing?

Linda Buquet · Sep 19, 2013

shondarogers said:
ok - i'm scared to ask this question because it is probably so basic and I've been through Laura's training and should KNOW the answer but...do you merge a listing be verifying it? is a verified listing the same as a merged listing?

Laura? You mean me?

Yes kinda sorta. Again Google does not make it easy.

You can verify a G+ Business page but if it's not local and there is no Place page you just get the check mark.

But with a G+ Business page that IS local and there's a Place page, when you verify it, it will merge the 2. So in our case in local verify =s merge. I normally try to say verify/merge to cover both bases in case someone knows of it as one term or the other.

Confusing I know...

Colan Nielsen · Sep 19, 2013

Linda Buquet said:
Laura? You mean me?

Yes kinda sorta. Again Google does not make it easy.

You can verify a G+ Business page but if it's not local and there is no Place page you just get the check mark.

But with a G+ Business page that IS local and there's a Place page, when you verify it, it will merge the 2. So in our case in local verify =s merge. I normally try to say verify/merge to cover both bases in case someone knows of it as one term or the other.

Confusing I know...

Thanks Linda, well said. I was just about to jump in and answer, but I'm glad you beat me to it

shondarogers · Sep 19, 2013

Ooops!!! Sorry - just hung up the phone with a Laura and it slipped in there..i did mean you, LINDA!!! Thanks - so when we talk about not merging "yet", in other words, we shouldn't verify G+ Business page if there's a Place page?

Linda Buquet · Sep 19, 2013

Thanks Colan.

Here's a simple way to think of it.

Verifying a G+ Page in it's most simple terms, creates a post card with a Pin which VERIFIES this business is real. So if it's a Business page, not local, just a plain business page - it ads a check mark to say:
yes this business has verified, it's real.

But when Local G+ Business page verifies, if there is a Place page it EATS IT! Because you can't have 2 local pages for the same location. So the G+ page eats the Place page and they become one.
So that page then ends up being both merged AND verified.

Does that make it easier to understand?
Or will you have visions of Pacman eating a Place page all day now?

shondarogers · Sep 19, 2013

[FONT=&quot]That makes perfect sense...but I guess what I'm wanting to clarify is when everyone talks about "not merging yet" are they referring to that final stage of verifying the Local G+Business page (assuming there is a place page)

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Linda Buquet · Sep 19, 2013

shondarogers said:
That makes perfect sense...but I guess what I'm wanting to clarify is when everyone talks about "not merging yet" are they referring to that final stage of verifying the Local G+Business page (assuming there is a place page)

Yes, because if you verify it they will merge. Verify = merge.

Confused re the Different Types of Google+ Local Pages?

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