Google FINALLY Releases How to Move Local Listing Help Doc

[MiriamEllis]

Good to know, Flash.

 

[Chris Ratchford]

Just scanning through this thread...

But I wonder if we can now claim duplicate listings and just mark them closed????

 

[Andrew Sawyer]

Just scanning through this thread...

But I wonder if we can now claim duplicate listings and just mark them closed????

Danger! Claiming multiple features for one business location "can be a violation of the Quality guidelines." (Which is Google code for don't do it!)

Just mark the inferior feature a duplicate of the superior feature: Duplicates - Map Maker Help

 

[Linda Buquet]

No I don't see this as a good solution at all for dupes. Plus even if you did, you would not have any reason to claim. Don't have to claim to close. Any user can mark a listing closed. But again not the solution for dupes.

I have more news on the move a business front. Waiting to be sure the info can be shared publicly.

 

[Chris Ratchford]

I was just hoping for an easier/faster way to delete duplicate listings of dental practices- especially w/ multi-practitioner offices.

Google's lack of understanding how a dental practice operates is getting old and starting to wear on me.

Having to go back and forth via email explaining why Google should delete individual doctor listings and dups takes up too much time, energy and resources.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yes Andrew is right.

Last I knew Google was not deleting Dr dupes, right? You are still trying to get them to???

Chris have you tried my suggestions for MINIMIZING the dupes instead. Don't claim, just minimize? Couple quick easy steps.

 

[Andrew Sawyer]

I was just hoping for an easier/faster way to delete duplicate listings of dental practices- especially w/ multi-practitioner offices.

Google's lack of understanding how a dental practice operates is getting old and starting to wear on me.

Having to go back and forth via email explaining why Google should delete individual doctor listings and dups takes up too much time, energy and resources.

Chris, the big problem that I see on the GMM forum regarding the activity quoted above is that people in your position often want to mark two features as duplicates because at a glance they appear like duplicates. I have seen others make the claim that Feature A is a duplicate of Feature B but one is supposed to have the name of the business and the other a professional listing for a person. An example of how this happens:

• "Dentist 4U" & "Joe Davis DDS - Dentist 4U" both exist as separate features
• "Dentist 4U" name is added to Joe Davis's professional feature
• Joe Davis name is deleted from professional feature, leaving two "Dentist 4U" features
• Someone tries to delete one as a duplicate of the other
• Edit gets denied because one's a business feature the other is a professional listing for the doctor

It would be helpful if Google enforced no business name in the name field for Professional Listings, but changed the UI to allow for linking the professional feature to the business feature indicating where the professional works. The way things are currently someone has to go through the feature's history in Map Maker to find out if the features are actually duplicates or the product of bad editing.

 

[Chris Ratchford]

@Andrew-

Thanks for taking time to explain!

 

[Linda Buquet]

I have more news on the move a business front. Waiting to be sure the info can be shared publicly.

YAY I can finally share this! Here is some good news!!!

http://localsearchforum.catalystema...-new-business-moved-feature-google-local.html

 

[Andrew Huskinson]

When I was posting in the forum earlier this year about Closing location issues I did ask that google 'merge' old web directory data we cannot get at with the Closed entry. I had been asking for a long time for a 'stop list' feature where we could that.

At least google have tidied up a life cycle issue which was not thought of in any initial analysis.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I can bring it up to the Map Maker Product Manager, who I think is equal to Joel; but I think I'll just get the exact opposite answer (if any at all).

Joel from Google just posted clarification about this issue in another thread and said MM is just a little behind. Joel wrote:

I'm glad there's so much interest in the feature and how this will work in Map Maker.

First, Map Maker's policy is behind a bit. Let me be clear about Google's preferences here.

We want people to edit locations if the information is wrong and hasn't ever represented a "true", ground truth state for the location - change the address, etc...

If a business has moved (regardless of distance), the old location should be closed and a new location should be created.

So he's saying bad scrape/bogus data/mistake - then Mappers should just edit.

But all moves EVEN IN TOWN should close/open new!

So I think that settles it and now we know for sure.

 

[Flash]

It settles what Places wants. Map Maker does differently, and these edits are all being sent to Map Maker for approval.