Google+ Map Marker Questions

[Marie Ysais]

I have a question about something I recently noticed.
I hope to explain this properly.

When you go to google+ maps and you look up the address you get this:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...=1st+Plumbing+Services&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en-US

When I put the company name in front of the address I get this:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...=1st+Plumbing+Services&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en-US

I think the company is being associated with two variations of the address and the map markers for both of these addresses are in slightly different spots.

Is this considered a dupe? Or something else? And what do you do to fix this?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Marie, those are the exact same link so can't see exactly what you are referring to.

Also is this your client or just an example? If so there are problems.

 

[Marie Ysais]

I hope to explain this properly. (again!) as the first time I failed!
8721 South 1st Street
Austin, TX 78748
When you go to google+ maps and you look up the address only you get this:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...=1st+Plumbing+Services&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en-US

When I put the company name in front of the address I get this:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...=1st+Plumbing+Services&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en-US

The url's are exactly the same however when you do the actual search the map markers are not in the same spot and you can only see the company profile and image when you include the company name. In the URL you can see that the company name is in both searches. If you just click on the links you won't be able to see what I am talking about. I was not able to add a screenshot!
I tried to add an image to show you that while the url is the exact same the two search look very different. Can anyone tell me what this means if anything?
Thanks!

---------- Post Merged at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:16 PM ----------

Its a client. And they fell out of the maps a few months ago. I have just noticed what I am trying to show you today:



In the image you can see the marker A and then the company marker. They are not the same marker. I hope the image shows you what I am trying to say.

 

[Marie Ysais]

They were doing really well and then fell out of the maps, lost all of the reviews....Their address was filtered slightly by Google. It wasn't until today that I noticed the two different map positions trying to get coordinates on this guy.
Any direction would be appreciated! thanks.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Ya you still copied the same link twice so we can't see what you were trying to show.

This is the 2nd link I think you meant to post. This is the only way I could get the view that's in your screenshot. 8721 South 1st Street, Austin, TX - Google Maps

If you Google the address, that tells you where Google thinks the MapMarker should be. You clicked on THEIR NAME right on the map to get their mapmarker to show up on the address search. (Or at least that's the only way I could reproduce what's in your screenshot since the links you posted were wrong.)

It's not a dupe or anything. Their map marker is just a little into the driveway. I can see 2 bot edits moving the map marker, once in Sept. Then Again in Oct.

But there are unwritten rules and best practice violations in the description and categories that I think caused them to be disconnected in search. These are things I cover in detail in the next G+ Local training session you want to take and this listing is a CLASSIC example of how a listing can still rank in organic - but drop out of the blended pack. It's always due to problems on the Places side of the house, like this one.

Remember in the Local SEO training when i said it's like a giant complicated puzzle and all has to fit? This is a great example of how you can have a site ranking fairly well in organic, but missing pieces on the Places side can knock it out. In this case I can see a bunch of things that likely tripped the spam filter and knocked it out of search.

Additionally only one listing is allowed per business location. The same guy owns all 3 of those businesses so that 'could' possibly be an issue as well. That part gets a little gray and they didn't totally delete the listing but something to be aware of that could cause problems.

BUT in addition to the problems above, the other thing that DOES almost always cause Google to drop listings out of blended is dupes. So IF they do consider the other listings dupes of this one, then that could be an issue but I think it's likely the other things I mentioned.

 

[Marie Ysais]

Thanks Linda! While I wait for my next training...........I will check into the violations you mentioned. It is a set of partners that run multiple businesses out of the same location but that has been true for years. I will check first into the violations to keep myself buy until our next training!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Well they are sort of unwritten rule violations. I cover in detail and explain in training but in a brief nutshell.

The G+L algo looks at descriptions like that as keyword spam. Should not repeat Name or City in description. And main keyword only once. You have city 4 times and name repeated and KWs over and over. Blumenthal confirmed part of what I believe above recently and said repeating city in description can cause a 10 point ranking penalty.

Plus I'd get rid of all those links. Plus there are category problems as well. Should not keep using plumbing this plumbing that over and over in cats. Will explain more in our next training session. (A lot of it is learning to think like the algo to avoid tripping spam filters by learning what some of the unwritten or subtle rules are.)

 

[Marie Ysais]

so glad your training would cover something just LIKE THIS ONE! thanks for the tips. I will work on them while I wait for my turn!

 

[Flash]

Your categories are not just an issue with respect to the algos. An map editor, either volunteer or employed by Google, would consider it category spam and delete most of it. At least it just gets deleted in that case; although I would believe you would still be getting a penalty for having it in your dashboard, and with it deleted from the map then Linda would not see it to advice you unless she really paid attention to the Map Maker history.