Google Maps Preview OPEN To All - Get Ready!

[Linda Buquet]

Google just announced that the new Google Maps preview is now available to all, so get ready to see some changes in the way people search and find businesses on the map.

The release date when Google will flip the switch has not been announced yet, but previews is open and instant to anyone that wants it.

Google opens the new Maps preview for desktop to everyone, still won’t share a final release date - The Next Web

Please visit our Google Maps forum for posts about how the new Google Maps could impact our world, especially see these threads:

4 Critical Google Maps Changes that will Impact Local Search

Google Maps Update - Shifts the Rankings, Impacts Local SEO

New Google Maps - The Pros Discuss Ramifications for Local SEO

Duplicate Listings and the New Google Maps

 

[Linda Buquet]

Everyone's talking about it so consumers will start using it more I think.

Cnet - Redesigned Google Maps interface now available to all | Internet & Media - CNET News

Wall Street Journal - Google Maps App Review: Revamped Google Maps App Aims to Give Users More Content - WSJ.com

TechCrunch - Google Opens The New Google Maps For Web To Everyone | TechCrunch

 

[katandmouse]

I think we've all been telling our clients to beef up their Google reviews because we saw this coming. I know I have, for over a year now, begging with them, trying to get them ready for big changes. It's coming. And if my intuition is right, there is more. I expect to see a lot more social and a lot more apps, such as promo apps, menus, reservations, etc.

Those Google+ Local pages just increased in importance. While I don't recommend local businesses go without a website ? at least now ? their websites are going to get used less and less over time.

So Local Mobile is changing local SEO for sure.The big question we all need to be looking at is if people are using those websites less and less, will Google diminish the power of their on-site SEO when ranking local businesses in Maps? Right now, I'm seeing it affects placement within the Carousel. For how long?

I'll also be thinking long and hard about what kind of website I'll be recommending for those local businesses who primarily serve people on the go wanting the closest, best thing at a moment's notice that they can find in Maps. Those businesses will see diminishing returns on their websites as more and more use their phones for those kinds of searches. How much is the question. (And that sounds like a blog coming on.

What are your thoughts?