Google+ Local Business Page - Reviews Tab Confusion

[Roger Panella]

I assume this may have been covered here at some point already, but I was unable to find anything about this exact situation. So, thought I'd create a new thread. Sorry if this has been asked a million times here!

Here's the situation I'm trying to figure out:

Recently, a client asked me to help him create a Google+ local page. I did this through the Google+ interface and created a page in the "Local Business or Place" category. I had the verification postcard sent and we've now verified the listing.

But, there is no review tab on the page, or an option for a visitor to write a review.

In addition, if I login to Places for Business (with his login), it indicates the the Google+ page is open. If I click on "Visit Your Google+ Page" I'm taken to a version of the page that DOES have the reviews tab.

Within the Places dashboard, it does say that some edits are still being approved. And, all information we've filled out is not appearing yet on the profile.

Is it possible that once edits are approved, the review tab will appear to visitors? I'm just a little confused about it appearing when I visit the page through Places for Business when signed in, but not showing up for visitors to the page. I wasn't sure if there was a delay for verification, etc.

Or, is there something else I need to do to get the reviews tab to show?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Roger, welcome!

I'm afraid it's all very complicated right now. Can't guess without seeing the listing(s).

Sounds like you maybe did things backwards and have 2 listings that did not merge right or something.

Please link to the G+ page.
And the link you land at when you click view my listing from the Places dash.

Then we'll have something to work with and can advise from there.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

But, there is no review tab on the page, or an option for a visitor to write a review.

Hey Roger,

The review tab that appears at the top is for b2b reviews that the business has left for other businesses. I think it usually only appears after leaving review #1 for another business.

You can see what I mean on our company G+ Local page. The review tab has all the businesses that we have experienced and reviewed as our company.- https://plus.google.com/b/108986806678990137378/108986806678990137378/about


If there is also no review button for a visitor to leave a review that sounds like another issue. Can you post a link to the page in question?

 

[Roger Panella]

Thanks for the replies Linda and Colan. And, thanks for the welcome, Linda! I was excited to find out about this forum a week or two ago!

It looks to me that there is only one listing and that is here:

https://plus.google.com/106050257518675031668/about

When I click on the "Visit Your Google+ Page" link within the new Places dashboard, it takes me to this URL: https://plus.google.com/b/106050257518675031668/106050257518675031668/about. Which, if pasted into a browser that I'm not signed in on, leads to the same URL as above.

Colan - that makes sense about the review tab. Thanks for that!

It's been a bit since I've worked with a client who didn't already have a Google+ page. So, I was assuming that at this point creating a new page from the Google+ interface was the way to go. Looks like I was wrong, though!

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Strange, it sounds like it's in some weird transition state between a G+ Business page and a merged/upgraded Local G+ page.

When did you verify it?

Was there an existing Google Places page that you merged it with?

 

[Linda Buquet]

No actually there is a separate Place page that didn't merge with G+.
https://plus.google.com/111592237831518829476/about?gl=us&hl=en

So it's like they didn't merge.

But what's weird is when you click from Places dash it should have taken you to that one, not the G+ page. The fact it went to G+ makes me thing Colan is right and it's maybe stuck and partially merged on the back end and they have just not come together live yet.

It's been a bit since I've worked with a client who didn't already have a Google+ page. So, I was assuming that at this point creating a new page from the Google+ interface was the way to go. Looks like I was wrong, though!

Ya that's kinda backwards. RIGHT THIS SEC (subject to change in a flash LOL) you should claim in Places and then WAIT to get auto-upgraded to G+. Don't create a G+ page.

 

[Roger Panella]

Thanks for taking a look, Linda and Colan!

We did just verify the listing on Friday. So, I think my strategy for the time being is give it a minute and see if the two pages merge.

When I visit the Place page (https://plus.google.com/111592237831518829476/about?gl=us&hl=en), I see the "Manage This Page" button. Any opinion on whether or not I should try and claim this listing? I'm nervous about that creating a permanent duplicate, but maybe that's unfounded.

Thanks for discovering that Linda. Yeah, since the Places dashboard took me to the Google+ page we had just created, I assumed that a separate page wasn't created.

Colan - to answer your question, there was no separate Places page prior to creating this Google+ page last week. My client was using a personal Google+ page as a social media account for his business, but no local profile.

And, we verified this past Friday afternoon.

 

[Roger Panella]

Just a quick update...

I had a call with Google's Places support and was told that the two separate pages are due to the Google+ Local Business page being created/verified recently. He said that they would be merged.

We'll see!

 

[Roger Panella]

I finally resolved this issue and just thought I'd update the thread, in case anyone ever has a similar issue.

As I mentioned that on the first call with Google Places support, I was told that the two pages being created was temporary since the listing was new and recently verified.

I gave it a week to sort itself out (though, I know that's pretty quick to expect a change!), and then called back. This time the person I talked to told me it was definitely a bug and she escalated the ticket. She told me I would hear back with next steps.

I also asked about deleting the listing from the Places dashboard, which she said may be a quicker way to get the issue fixed. Knowing the problems associated with deleting listings from the old Places dashboard, I decided to hold off on that and give it some time.

After not hearing back, I decided to call again, since my client is anxious to start using the social features. This time, I asked specifically about deleting and the person I talked to told me that deleting from Places would delete both pages. Then, I could start over and call to verify.

I used the "delete this listing" in the Places dashboard. It did delete the Google+ page, but (as i suspected) did not the Places page (though it was now no longer verified). I claimed the Places page again , called in, and they verified it over the phone. Out of paranoia, I waited a couple of days, then today used the Google+ Widget in the new dashboard.

It worked! Finally, we have this page: https://plus.google.com/105718073276763592844/

Thanks again Linda and Colan for your comments and help!!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Glad it all worked out Roger. Thanks for giving us an update.