- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
- Messages
- 13,313
- Reaction score
- 4,148
Google just killed Michael Cottam's Local Dupe Finder.
When I say killed it, I mean for the purpose most serious pros used it for.
To discover and LOOK AT duplicate Google+ pages - typically used for ranking troubleshooting.
For anyone unaware of what I'm referring to, here is a post I did that illustrated the power of Michael's Google Local Dupe Finder:
<a href="http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local-important/32034-gmb-dupe-finder-spam-hunter-infinitely-better-than-map-maker.html">GMB Dupe Finder & Spam Hunter - Infinitely Better Than Map Maker</a>
Paul Gordon reported at the forum yesterday:
<a href="http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-maps/38198-google-places-api-now-returns-google-maps-url-rather-than-google-url.html">Google Places API now returns a google maps url rather than a google+ url</a>
I did some checking and found a post from Michael announcing the API problem, which affects his tool AND our ability to hunt down duplicate listings.
Michael's post: <a href="http://www.michaelcottam.com/google-places-api-quietly-divorces-google/">Google Places API Quietly Divorces Google+</a>
Then found a post from Mike Blumenthal about Michael's post and the issue:
<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2015/11/03/google-places-api-drops-g-page-in-results/">Google Places API Drops G+ Page in Results</a>
So one more nail in the coffin for dupe hunting.
And one more nail in the coffin for Google+, at least as far as how it relates to Google Local. G+ in general is still viable, kinda.
When I say killed it, I mean for the purpose most serious pros used it for.
To discover and LOOK AT duplicate Google+ pages - typically used for ranking troubleshooting.
For anyone unaware of what I'm referring to, here is a post I did that illustrated the power of Michael's Google Local Dupe Finder:
<a href="http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local-important/32034-gmb-dupe-finder-spam-hunter-infinitely-better-than-map-maker.html">GMB Dupe Finder & Spam Hunter - Infinitely Better Than Map Maker</a>
Paul Gordon reported at the forum yesterday:
<a href="http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-maps/38198-google-places-api-now-returns-google-maps-url-rather-than-google-url.html">Google Places API now returns a google maps url rather than a google+ url</a>
I did some checking and found a post from Michael announcing the API problem, which affects his tool AND our ability to hunt down duplicate listings.
Michael's post: <a href="http://www.michaelcottam.com/google-places-api-quietly-divorces-google/">Google Places API Quietly Divorces Google+</a>
Then found a post from Mike Blumenthal about Michael's post and the issue:
<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2015/11/03/google-places-api-drops-g-page-in-results/">Google Places API Drops G+ Page in Results</a>
So one more nail in the coffin for dupe hunting.
And one more nail in the coffin for Google+, at least as far as how it relates to Google Local. G+ in general is still viable, kinda.