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Yesterday, helping someone on the Google forum I stumbled across new Photo guidelines for Google Local+. Most made sense but a couple made me scratch my head and think "this is going to be a problem". Then my friend Miriam Ellis blogged it this AM and it turns out she has some of the same concerns/questions I did. See the new guidelines, my thoughts, Miriam's post and comments below.
<center><img src="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/NoLogos.jpg" alt="" title="NoLogos" width="331" height="203" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6123" /></center>
MAJOR CORRECTION 7/26 3:20 PST: Just saw a Tweet from Blumenthal. He says these guidelines are for USER image uploads NOT Business owner uploads. So both Miriam and I took it wrong.
But Google does not explain ANYWHERE it's for users and MANY others including concerned business owner on the forum thought it was for business owners too. So not our fault as much as just poor Google communication. Still kinda embarrassing.
Sorry! More info here - Mike's Tweet.
Another update 8/8 Jade just let me know they were able to get those guidelines changed and they no longer prohibit user photos of people or logos providing they are related to or appropriate for the business. See the link below and you'll see the guidelines have been updated.
Official Google Guidelines Below
So my 1st concern is logos. I've seen fairly subtle comments from Googlers in the forum that lead me to believe they didn't really want logos. BUT didn't know it was an official guideline. WHY? Almost everyone adds their logo to their Place page/G+ Local page. It's called branding Google. You even have a logo you feature everywhere, right???
So in other words she really wants PHOTOS not graphics. But then in #4 she says she does not really want people pics either??? What? That really limits lots of images that many businesses need to show to illustrate what they do. Smiling patients for Dentists, Family and Wedding photos for photogs, I could go on.
Miriam makes some great points: <strong><a href="http://www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1244">Google+ Local’s Photo Guidelines, or, Sorry Dentists, You’re Sunk!</a></strong>
Miriam nails it when she says "<em>Not have people as the main subject (<strong>so, sorry to all you dentists who think a big toothy smile is the best showcase of what you can do for patients, and while we’re at it, stop those happy elders showing off on your assisted living organization’s Google+ Local page and as for those family portraits rendered by your photography studio, well, you’d better knock that off right now.</strong>)</em>
Another thing I wonder about re the pic rule is profile photos of the business owner and/or staff. For many professional service businesses like Dentists, Doctors, Lawyers that is primarily what they want to show - a pic of the provider and/or staff. Not my fav type of image to show on Places I do, but it's relevant. Now it's a no-no?
Kinda conflicts with all the emphasis they put on author photos and the fact that your profile pic MUST be a head shot of you. Seems they are really pushing for transparent personal photos - EXCEPT if it's a + Local page. Then they just want photos of what? The building? The equipment? The product?
Well what if the product is YOU? As is the case with lawyers for instance, then what? Can't show a pic of yourself? Oh and if you are a divorce lawyer, you are really out of luck because you can't show a pic of a family either!
What do you guys think???
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<center><img src="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/NoLogos.jpg" alt="" title="NoLogos" width="331" height="203" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6123" /></center>
MAJOR CORRECTION 7/26 3:20 PST: Just saw a Tweet from Blumenthal. He says these guidelines are for USER image uploads NOT Business owner uploads. So both Miriam and I took it wrong.
But Google does not explain ANYWHERE it's for users and MANY others including concerned business owner on the forum thought it was for business owners too. So not our fault as much as just poor Google communication. Still kinda embarrassing.
Another update 8/8 Jade just let me know they were able to get those guidelines changed and they no longer prohibit user photos of people or logos providing they are related to or appropriate for the business. See the link below and you'll see the guidelines have been updated.
Official Google Guidelines Below
<strong><a href="http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2689731">Google+ Local photo guidelines</a></strong>
These are the guidelines used to determine which photos are appropriate for Google+ Local pages.
If a photo is determined to be inappropriate for a specific Google+ Local page, then it is removed from that +page. At the same time, the original photo will still exist in the album of the user who uploaded the photo.
Photos that are uploaded to Google+ Local pages should be relevant. Specifically they should:
<strong>- Not be graphical logos
- Not be merely text, unless it is relevant to the place, for example the menu of a restaurant or a photo of the storefront with large fonts
- Not be copyrighted
- Not be screenshots
- Not have people as the main subject
- Be of respectable quality. Photos that are overly blurry, noisy, rotated, or too dark may be removed</strong>
If your photo has been removed from a Google+ Local page, you can appeal it through <a href="http://support.google.com/plus/bin/request.py?contact_type=photo_appeal">this form</a>
So my 1st concern is logos. I've seen fairly subtle comments from Googlers in the forum that lead me to believe they didn't really want logos. BUT didn't know it was an official guideline. WHY? Almost everyone adds their logo to their Place page/G+ Local page. It's called branding Google. You even have a logo you feature everywhere, right???
So in other words she really wants PHOTOS not graphics. But then in #4 she says she does not really want people pics either??? What? That really limits lots of images that many businesses need to show to illustrate what they do. Smiling patients for Dentists, Family and Wedding photos for photogs, I could go on.
Miriam makes some great points: <strong><a href="http://www.solaswebdesign.net/wordpress/?p=1244">Google+ Local’s Photo Guidelines, or, Sorry Dentists, You’re Sunk!</a></strong>
Miriam nails it when she says "<em>Not have people as the main subject (<strong>so, sorry to all you dentists who think a big toothy smile is the best showcase of what you can do for patients, and while we’re at it, stop those happy elders showing off on your assisted living organization’s Google+ Local page and as for those family portraits rendered by your photography studio, well, you’d better knock that off right now.</strong>)</em>
Another thing I wonder about re the pic rule is profile photos of the business owner and/or staff. For many professional service businesses like Dentists, Doctors, Lawyers that is primarily what they want to show - a pic of the provider and/or staff. Not my fav type of image to show on Places I do, but it's relevant. Now it's a no-no?
Kinda conflicts with all the emphasis they put on author photos and the fact that your profile pic MUST be a head shot of you. Seems they are really pushing for transparent personal photos - EXCEPT if it's a + Local page. Then they just want photos of what? The building? The equipment? The product?
Well what if the product is YOU? As is the case with lawyers for instance, then what? Can't show a pic of yourself? Oh and if you are a divorce lawyer, you are really out of luck because you can't show a pic of a family either!
What do you guys think???
"HEY all you Lurkers! Register & Join the Conversation!"