List of Official Google+ City Pages

[Linda Buquet]

Back in June 2011 I broke a story about <strong><a href="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/google-places-local-business-directories-phone-numbers.html">Google's new "City Pages"</a></strong> which I discovered a couple days before Google officially announced them. It looked like they were going to be very cool city directories - and for awhile they were.

Now it looks like they are all gone and the ones I have checked go to 404 error pages. It looks like Google is now going for Official Google+ City Pages instead. (Which totally makes sense, but does not offer a big, rich city directory experience like it did before.)

I've been collecting Official Google+ City Pages as I find them and have listing the ones I've found so far.
<strong>If you live/work in a particular city you may want to circle the page, comment on posts and get to know the local Community Manager. Having friends in high Google Local places never hurts!</strong>

 
<a href="https://plus.google.com/101485436043392788426"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3O9Cq4xnKX4/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAA8/O2Q-iA37Y2A/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/101485436043392788426">Google Local Chicago</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/117919035512385730921"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5lGcErys6TY/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAANCw/zy-7Bo4pMO4/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> <strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/117919035512385730921">Google Local New York</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/103609387223372966927"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cXoLKrFvizM/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAABo/QlNEbXMo_7s/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/103609387223372966927">Google Local Austin</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/116112661045066270410"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5kp0UaNeP6c/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAIk/GPC4_31lYEo/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/116112661045066270410">Google Local Boston</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/105606313177098826348"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-guUs16aMln4/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAADA/Afr-qrpN85g/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/105606313177098826348">Google Local DC</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/106073936454019133959"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eALrmrX2APs/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAD0/VlgTfaJqKPQ/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/106073936454019133959">Google Local Portland</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/103520231279666700811"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-HPZ-JJ3SG9Y/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAADc/MvQegTFv0pM/s48-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/103520231279666700811">Google Local Salt Lake</a></strong></span>

 

<a href="https://plus.google.com/112468548169420687316"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EbcScT7lSGY/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAA4/5n6F5sa399w/s80-c-k/photo.jpg" alt="" width="48px" height="48px"align="left" hspace="10" /></a> <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><a href="https://plus.google.com/112468548169420687316">Google Local London</a></strong></span>

 </strong>

During the time that I've been gradually tracking down City pages to create this list, Matt McGee posted about the changes over at Search Engine Land <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-starts-shutting-down-its-city-pages-shifts-to-google-local-138587">Google Starts Shutting Down Its City Pages, Shifts To Google+ Local</a> and noted 2 of the new pages. So head over and see what he had to say.

If you discover any other Google+ Local City Pages please share below and I'll add them to the list above.

 

[Simon James]

Hey Linda, that kinda answers the question I've asked elsewhere about whether it is ok to have multiple G+ Local business pages (one for each location) for one company. That is what G has done here isn't it?

From an SEO techno nerd perspective I noticed some slightly odd variances between the link website each page displays:
Chicago, New York, Austin, and DC all link to plus.google.com/local - with a "Linked Website" checkmark on the end. (What's that all about?)
Portland and Salt Lake City link to Google+ i.e. without the checkmark
Boston and London link to Google+

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hey Linda, that kinda answers the question I've asked elsewhere about whether it is ok to have multiple G+ Local business pages (one for each location) for one company. That is what G has done here isn't it?

Hi Simon, think there may be some confusion on a couple different levels.

I don't remember the specific questions you refer to but it's always been OK AND advisable to ok to have multiple G+ Local business pages (one for each location) for one company. Never any question about that. Unless there were unique issues like one location was a virtual office, or both locations had same phone or something. But no in general the rule is one listing per business location.

"That is what G has done here isn't it?"
No not at all. The Google city pages are not Google Places/Google+ Local pages they are Local Google+ pages which is a different animal. They are Google+ Business pages set up in the Local category but they aren't Google Places/Google+ Local pages and don't have the same features or guidelines. They aren't each a business office location listing. No address, phone or reviews like Place pages have. They only have the social G+ Business page features.

 

[Simon James]

Oops, I meant Local G+ pages.
So where you create a Local G+ business page, then create a (or claim an unclaimed) G+ Local page, and then get them merged... surely they cease to be a G+ Local page and exist only as a Local G+ business page - but can still appear in Places listings e.g. Chicago Music Exchange ?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oops, I meant Local G+ pages.
So where you create a Local G+ business page, then create a (or claim an unclaimed) G+ Local page, and then get them merged... surely they cease to be a G+ Local page and exist only as a Local G+ business page - but can still appear in Places listings e.g. Chicago Music Exchange ?

Oh God that made my head hurt! (Google makes my head hurt!)

"surely they cease to be a G+ Local page and exist only as a Local G+ business page - but can still appear in Places listings e.g."

Well no, does not cease to be a G+ Local page. That's why it still shows up in the Places listings. The way I see it is after you merge, like the Chicago Music Exchange did, then it's BOTH. Not either/or but both merged together. Best of both worlds. All the business listing data and review features of Places + all the social features of Plus.

 

[Simon James]

Oh God that made my head hurt! (Google makes my head hurt!)

Sorry about that, but the nomenclanture is ridiculous now!

So speaking purely from a database perspective, after the merger, what we are left with is a G+ business page record with a flag that identifies it as a "Local" page, and probably another flag that indicates it can be served up as a Places listing.

This is hinted at by the fact that the database currently seems unable to support a one-to-many relationship between a G+ business record and multiple Places records (i.e. because the table linking does not exist in the database schema).

Therefore, if I have a multi location business, I don't see why G would object to me creating a separate (Local) G+ business page for each Places page.

Therefore in a single personal G+ account it should be ok to create up to 50 Local G+ pages for the same company, and merge up to 50 Places pages into those G+ pages, on a one-to-one basis.

Does that make sense... or are you now lying down in a dark room hoping that the painkillers will kick in soon?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yes painkillers pu-lease! Logging off now to eat dinner because I need food in my belly
before I take all the drugs.

 

[Simon James]

Bon appetite.