Questions for the Google My Business Team?

[JoyHawkins]

A few of our regular contributors on the forum will be at Google's head office this week for their Google Products Experts Summit. I thought I'd ask if anyone has questions and/or feedback for the Google My Business team? I can't promise I'll have the chance to ask them every single thing posted but will do my best!

 

[Phil Rozek]

Thanks, @JoyHawkins. One thing to consider asking: "When will you require a minimum amount of text to accompany a Google review/rating?"

Similar to what Facebook has done:
https://whitespark.ca/blog/facebook-recommendations-monitoring-reporting/

The idea is if it's a legitimate (or at least believable) review, the reviewer has to explain at least a bit why he/she left 5 stars, or 1 star, or whatever.

If it's a BS review, or one in which the reviewer just typed "woihj9osdujmd0!!3wauojdhygt8yywqdrrrp" to get up to the minimum number of characters, then searchers and Google at least can draw some conclusions and decide what to do.

It is mighty hard to get a ratings-only review removed if the reviewer isn't part of a review-spam network. It's what I call a drive-by negative reviewing.

 

[BenFisher]

@Phil Rozek We are going to be focusing on talking about listing spam, insights and agency dashboard for the most part. But will probably talk a bit about reviews. Any questions on those three topics? (or suggestions).

 

[Phil Rozek]

@BenFisher, spam? Where do I begin....

The first thing that comes to mind is that there should be an optional "Comments" field to accompany most edits - a place where you can provide any color commentary you'd provide to a TC (or anyone else) to corroborate your claim.

Now, both you and I know probably nobody at Google will ever see those comments, and I imagine they wouldn't be publicly visible. Maybe they're mostly ornamentation and a feel-good measure at first. But they would be visible to a TC if and when someone escalates a spam situation. They'd serve as lab notes, to make it easier for a TC or (maybe, just maybe) someone at Google to make the right decision.

 

[BenFisher]

@Phil Rozek That I think is a very valid point, and will be sure to bring it up! It would be awesome say in the case of a VO, you could supply the Regus link, possibly even the SOS link/screenshot that a business does not exist legally at that location.

 

[Phil Rozek]

Thanks, @BenFisher. Yeah, that's exactly the kind of use-case I've got in mind.

 

[shripadd]

@JoyHawkins - Some of the questions related to GMB API -1) Is pots for "Chain Business" coming? Any expected time frame. 2) Is uploading video in GMB Posts via API is coming?

 

[Genna_Local_SEO]

These might be noob questions but I'm curious

What, if anything, is Google doing to improve keyword spamming within listings - specifically thinking about the business name.

Will Insights reporting become more accurate? Any new reporting features coming?

What is the goal with the follow button on listings? I realize it's a social aspect, but how will that work and where is it going in the future?

 

[shripadd]

@JoyHawkins Is there something to share with us about last product expert meeting? How it was? Is something coming for Local SEO pros?

 

[JoyHawkins]

We provided a lot of feedback to the team based on the comments here. Unfortunately, I can't really share what they told us but I know they take the feedback seriously.

I did get clarification about how branded terms work and posted that thread about it.

 

[nwinezog]

Will bulk GMB posts in the dashboard be added?

 

[Timothy]

I just saw this for the first time suggesting a user edit in local search. New feature?

 

[BenFisher]

@Timothy Not a new feature.

@Phil Rozek Passed the comment concept along

@shripadd More than likely not on both points.