Need to break connection between Wikipedia and Google Maps Listing

[NevenaIvanova]

Hello,

I am looking for assistance with a puzzle I haven't managed to resolve for six months already.

In brief - a hotel changed its brand from "Hilton Singapore" to "voco Orchard Singapore" on Jan 1, 2022. There are two Google Maps entities - one of the previous brand and another of the new brand:

Hilton Singapore · 581 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238883 - previous brand
voco Orchard Singapore, an IHG Hotel · 581 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238883 - new brand

However, there's only 1 Wikipedia article due to the platform's policy to simply renew the information - Voco Orchard Singapore - Wikipedia.

And that's why the old brand KG is linked with the Wikipedia article, hence displaying the description which is no longer related to the Hilton property.

So far I have tried all means of escalations - GBP support, frequent feedback from SERP and Maps.

I will be grateful if you could suggest a working way to break the connection between the old Google Maps entity and the only Wikipedia article.

Thank you,
Nevena

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Are you finding that customers are actually finding the closed listing in the search results? Since it's closed, it should not be surfacing for discovery searches.

Permanently Closed listings are very hard to find these days because Google purposely hides them since they aren’t overly valuable to users. Often the only way to trigger them on Google search is to type in the name exactly or a combination of the name + the address if it’s for an old location.

 

[NevenaIvanova]

Hi Colan, thanks for your question.

The GBP Insights data shows that the listing is still discoverable for the users

The numbers are indeed drastically decreased following the closure, but these are not isolated incidents. Having said that, I hope that anyone can suggest a working way to break the connection with the Wikipedia article.

Thank you,
Nevena

 

[JS Girard]

Why was a new profile created? Don't google guidelines themselves mandate that this should not have been a new listing to begin with?

 

[NevenaIvanova]

No, according to the guidelines this business isn't eligible for Rebranding, as the name change isn't minor.

 

[JS Girard]

Oh, my bad, I didn't know.

 

[SaraGarrison]

I believe there used to be a page where you could specifically report an incorrect editorial summary. It is now necessary to use the contact form instead. I know this is a Wikipedia KG excerpt, not quite the same as an editorial summary, but when I try typing "incorrect wikipedia" into the support contact form, "Wrong editorial summary" comes up as a suggested issue. Might be worth a shot reporting it this way.

1. Tell us what you need help with: incorrect business editorial summary
2. Choose "Wrong editorial summary" --> Click Next Step
3. Next step
4. Choose the contact option you prefer

I know of no way to break that connection without getting cooperation from GBP support.

 

[NevenaIvanova]

Thank you so much for the advice, Sara. However, I already escalated this 3 times to GBP support and they kept insisting to turn to the Wikipedia editorial team to have this fixed. The thing is that everything is in order with the content in Wikipedia and they don't have the ability to direct any article's info to particular Google listing.

 

[SaraGarrison]

Thank you so much for the advice, Sara. However, I already escalated this 3 times to GBP support and they kept insisting to turn to the Wikipedia editorial team to have this fixed. The thing is that everything is in order with the content in Wikipedia and they don't have the ability to direct any article's info to particular Google listing.

Totally understand. Have you tried using the editorial summary option to report to GBP Support? It may help your request get routed to an individual who knows what you are talking about and can actually help. I once had to get Support's help with an incorrect business summary for a client with 33k profiles. The business summary was referencing a service the client no longer offered at all. It took several attempts to get GBP Support to know what I was referring to, and about 8 months before the fix was in.

 

[NevenaIvanova]

Hey Sara,

Yes, at least 2 out of the 3 tickets were started from the ES reports form. However, I didn't get the necessary understanding from the Google team.