Faster Aggregator Submission?

[consultant]

I've been a software developer for over 20 years and an Internet Marketing Consultant the last 17. It completely baffles me why it takes so long to push out a NAP through the aggregators. All these aggregators are, are large databases. It takes less then a second to add the NAP record to the database. There are quick and easy ways to verify via telephone or postcard if necessary so the excuse that manual review is necessary, to me is BS. In addition, you can add options on the listings to suggest edits, report violations, etc. So in my mind it's completely realistic to have a new NAP in the aggregator DB within 24 hours with automated phone verification, or in the case of physical location verification, a week and. If Bing and Google can do it within a week, why not all the major aggregators and the directories they feed to?


With that said, what aggregator and what service that feeds to the aggregator is the fastest to get the NAP live in major directories? I realize is that timing can vary depending on the end directory, but I'm talking Factual, Localeze, Axciom, and Infogroup for aggregators and for directories they feed to: Yellowpages, Superpages, Mapquest, etc.

It just ridiculous from an IT standpoint that these things should take so long.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

I've been a software developer for over 20 years and an Internet Marketing Consultant the last 17. It completely baffles me why it takes so long to push out a NAP through the aggregators. All these aggregators are, are large databases. It takes less then a second to add the NAP record to the database. There are quick and easy ways to verify via telephone or postcard if necessary so the excuse that manual review is necessary, to me is BS. In addition, you can add options on the listings to suggest edits, report violations, etc. So in my mind it's completely realistic to have a new NAP in the aggregator DB within 24 hours with automated phone verification, or in the case of physical location verification, a week and. If Bing and Google can do it within a week, why not all the major aggregators and the directories they feed to?


With that said, what aggregator and what service that feeds to the aggregator is the fastest to get the NAP live in major directories? I realize is that timing can vary depending on the end directory, but I'm talking Factual, Localeze, Axciom, and Infogroup for aggregators and for directories they feed to: Yellowpages, Superpages, Mapquest, etc.

It just ridiculous from an IT standpoint that these things should take so long.

Completely agree honestly.

In my experience, Factual is the longest, ExpressUpdate is the quickest.

I could be wrong about that though.

Interested to see what others think as I don't direct submit to Factual/Acxiom/Localeze anymore.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

If Bing and Google can do it within a week, why not all the major aggregators and the directories they feed to?

This is the million dollar question. I think it's a combination of staffing (or lack thereof), money, and also the need to be certain sure the updates being made are accurate. And I think money has become a much bigger factor over the years.

Before we went to Moz, I spent a lot of time on the phone with InfoGroup, and got the distinct impression that there wasn't a whole lot of staff on hand. A few people actually got a bit defensive when I would tell them their data was incorrect (reporting duplicate info, incorrect phone numbers preventing verification, etc). They flat out refused to work with me if I let it slip that I was not actually working from the business location as well. Once, they directly called me at the business at random, and were quite upset when they found out I was SEO, and not actually an employee. It just seemed...personal. More personal than it does when working with a larger organization. I could be wrong though.

Localeze seems much more efficient, but you can only make one free update a year, and you have to pay to add a business. Factual is just an enigma to me. I just don't understand how a directory can be so high authority, but be so flawed. But...it looks like they are working on the problem though: Factual | Introducing Neutronic: Factual’s New Places Pipeline

Many major directories (Such as YP, TrueLocal, CanPages, etc) were bought out by larger companies such as Sensis (in Canada and Australia). These directories can only be updated by paying a fee directly to them, or by subscribing with a company they are partnered with like Yext. When working directly with them, the updates are near immediate. They also update from the aggregators, but as you said, that takes time.

With that said, what aggregator and what service that feeds to the aggregator is the fastest to get the NAP live in major directories?

I have not tried them all, so I cannot be sure. But, we use Moz Local with good results. The length of time it takes to update depends on how bad the NAP problems are, and how closely you monitor and/or use the duplicate finder.

To be completely honest though, nothing available replaces a manual audit. You (or your client) might have to pay the fees to update, but if you're looking for near immediate (and permanently consistent until a NAP change) results, manual audits and updates are the way to go. It's time consuming, and frustrating to say the least.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Cherie,

Just wanted to say THANK YOU for the detailed and helpful posts.
You are a great contribution to our community!

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Awww..Thanks, Linda! That means a lot coming from you!

 

[Weve Got Your Customers]

Factual is just an enigma to me. I just don't understand how a directory can be so high authority, but be so flawed.

Speaking of flawed, looks like they have updated their Contact Form to weed out most local business owners from figuring what fields they need to submit - https://www.factual.com/contact/

And never submitted when I filled out to inquire as to a Submission over 7 months ago still has not been processed... Maybe this is part of their GDPR plan

 

[Cherie Dickey]

It looks like they still have a form...just a bit harder to find on their site.

Try this: https://my.factual.com/update_add_business

Here's their list of trusted partners as well: Factual | Trusted Data Contributor Program

I'd say someone could use a link audit to make sure their redirects are working. The link from the page above goes to the contact page you're seeing. I found both pages here: Factual | Contribute or Correct Data

I'd wager the speed hasn't improved with the manual form updates.

 

[Weve Got Your Customers]

Thanks for posting the Update Business link Cherie - it may be helpful for others who find this thread...

I this case, I was just inquiring of them why previous submission that was submitted almost 2/3 of a year ago has not been processed - and noticed the issues with their Contact Form: (1) Field Names not appearing on multiple browsers and (2) Failed Submission Completion via Chrome.

They are definitely having issues...

 

[JoshuaMackens]

This is the million dollar question. I think it's a combination of staffing (or lack thereof), money, and also the need to be certain sure the updates being made are accurate. And I think money has become a much bigger factor over the years.

Before we went to Moz, I spent a lot of time on the phone with InfoGroup, and got the distinct impression that there wasn't a whole lot of staff on hand. A few people actually got a bit defensive when I would tell them their data was incorrect (reporting duplicate info, incorrect phone numbers preventing verification, etc). They flat out refused to work with me if I let it slip that I was not actually working from the business location as well. Once, they directly called me at the business at random, and were quite upset when they found out I was SEO, and not actually an employee. It just seemed...personal. More personal than it does when working with a larger organization. I could be wrong though.

Localeze seems much more efficient, but you can only make one free update a year, and you have to pay to add a business. Factual is just an enigma to me. I just don't understand how a directory can be so high authority, but be so flawed. But...it looks like they are working on the problem though: Factual | Introducing Neutronic: Factual’s New Places Pipeline

Many major directories (Such as YP, TrueLocal, CanPages, etc) were bought out by larger companies such as Sensis (in Canada and Australia). These directories can only be updated by paying a fee directly to them, or by subscribing with a company they are partnered with like Yext. When working directly with them, the updates are near immediate. They also update from the aggregators, but as you said, that takes time.



I have not tried them all, so I cannot be sure. But, we use Moz Local with good results. The length of time it takes to update depends on how bad the NAP problems are, and how closely you monitor and/or use the duplicate finder.

To be completely honest though, nothing available replaces a manual audit. You (or your client) might have to pay the fees to update, but if you're looking for near immediate (and permanently consistent until a NAP change) results, manual audits and updates are the way to go. It's time consuming, and frustrating to say the least.

Dead on with the aggregators. Especially ExpressUpdate/InfoUSA. They get really riled up and hate working with SEO's. I think it's because they want you to pay them if you're an SEO company to use their bulk service.

YP is free in the States still but it's different in Canada for sure.

 

[Eric Shanfelt]

what aggregator and what service that feeds to the aggregator is the fastest to get the NAP live in major directories? I realize is that timing can vary depending on the end directory, but I'm talking Factual, Localeze, Axciom, and Infogroup for aggregators and for directories they feed to: Yellowpages, Superpages, Mapquest, etc.

If you directly submit to the aggregators via their web interfaces, it can take up to 7-8 weeks for them to review, approve, disseminate the new data to other sites / apps, and for those other sites / apps to display the new data.

However, there are preferred vendors that submit data to the aggregators via their APIs and sometimes even have special agreements with the aggregators. This can significantly shorten the update cycle, but it still could take a couple weeks for everything to work through to the end sites / apps.

BrightLocal and Whitespark are two of the better companies that manually oversee the process. Moz and Yext are two of the better companies that have more automated systems. There are many others as well, but these are some of the more popular one.

Hope this helps at least a little bit!