Rebrand or Name Change - Map Maker Says Open New & Close Old

[Linda Buquet]

Don't think it's definitively spelled out anywhere on the Google+ Local side of the house, but just found this in Map Maker. Wanted to add it here so we can find the link if we need to reference it for clients.

Name change for a business - Google Map Maker Help Docs

Name change for a business

If a business has changed its name completely, do not edit the name to correct it.
Instead:

Create a new listing with the correct name and details.
Close the existing listing (the one with the old name).

If the name is partially incorrect, you can edit the name and correct it.
Examples :

Starbuks (Inappropriate)
Starbucks (Correct)

 

[Linda Buquet]

FYI there ARE new Google+ Local recommendations now for how to handle MOVES. I posted about it here: http://localsearchforum.catalystema...-finally-releases-how-move-local-listing.html. Google+ Local management has "told us" that re-branding should be handled the same - open new listings - close old listing - but again I don't believe the re-branding instructions are spelled out on the Places side of the house.

But above is the official word from the Map Maker side of the house.

 

[mborgelt]

Do we know at what % of the name that is changed that we should then just create a new one? Seems pretty vague.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I think it's pretty clear, if it's the same name, just formatted differently or spelled wrong, edit.
Totally different name, then open/close.

So for example:

Listed as Dr. John Smith - should be John L Smith DDS, you can edit.
Joe's Italian Food is wrong scraped name and real name is Joe's Italian Diner, you could edit.

But if Joe's Italian Diner either buys out another restaurant or rebrands to "Pizza, Wings and More",
then open/close.

 

[Andrew Sawyer]

I think it's pretty clear, if it's the same name, just formatted differently or spelled wrong, edit.
Totally different name, then open/close.

So for example:

Listed as Dr. John Smith - should be John L Smith DDS, you can edit.
Joe's Italian Food is wrong scraped name and real name is Joe's Italian Diner, you could edit.

But if Joe's Italian Diner either buys out another restaurant or rebrands to "Pizza, Wings and More",
then open/close.

Rebranding under the same exact name (requiring close/open) would be a place called "RKT Limited" who operates as a photo studio but then starts selling clothes. Effectively the business is the same people, place, name, address, etc but the brand/offerings are different. A consumer wouldn't see them as the same place, especially if they like singular photo studios and don't like clothing stores or clothing stores with photo studios.

 

[ccoke]

When a business has a name change and has to create a new Google+ Local page, what is the ranking implications? Will they lose their ranking and have to build it back up like a new website? I could see how a significant name change could create NAP inconsistencies across the web that could be detrimental.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi ccoke and welcome.

This thread is old info - the procedure keeps changing. Here is the latest:

Business Moves - Procedure Changes Again - Just Edit Local Listing Now
(It's a sticky at the top of this moving or name change forum)

No longer need to close old and create new - just edit listing. But if it's a significant enough change Google may close old and create new for you.

Yes any time you change NAP you can lose ranking and sometimes start over in the 6 - 8 week ranking cycle and not rank at all for awhile. But if you move, you move and nothing you can do about it except work on getting all your citations updated.

 

[ccoke]

Yeah, I have been working with a couple of businesses who each changed their names roughly a year ago and neither tend to rank high for their core city search terms and I have been assuming it was due to the name change and the related NAP inconsistencies, but we have cleaned a lot of that up and both businesses are located in very near the centroid. Just curious of the name change could still be the problem or not now.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Could be BUT ranking at main SERPs is mainly about organic ranking factors now.

See this post: http://localsearchforum.catalystema...-how-google-local-algo-really-works-what.html

I specialize in investigating ranking problems. Contact me if you want a consult so I can do a deep dive or post a link in the help forum and we can see if we can give you any quick tips.

 

[ccoke]

this is the business...

Los Angeles Hotels - Doubletree Los Angeles Downtown Hotel

If there are any quick tips or anything you see that could help, I would appreciate it.

 

[Alex Weiss]

I think my question is a little different than just implementing a name change.

We are talking to a prospective client who created a Google+ account for his 50 year old business using their company name.

From what I can understand, Google's naming policy requires that the name be the first and last name of an individual.

Is the best practice to execute a re-naming, which in essence will also generate a re-branding and then create a G+ Page for the business?

PS Thanks for the OUTSTANDING webinar today (12/5/13) with Myles on "Local Optimization for Service Area Businesses"

 

[Linda Buquet]

I think my question is a little different than just implementing a name change.

We are talking to a prospective client who created a Google+ account for his 50 year old business using their company name.

From what I can understand, Google's naming policy requires that the name be the first and last name of an individual.

Is the best practice to execute a re-naming, which in essence will also generate a re-branding and then create a G+ Page for the business?

PS Thanks for the OUTSTANDING webinar today (12/5/13) with Myles on "Local Optimization for Service Area Businesses"

Hi Alex, glad you liked webinar.

Think there is confusion. This thread is on rebranding on the PLACE page. Is that what you are talking about or are you talking G+? Because only on the G+ personal profile should it be a person's name. The Place page must use the correct business name, then the G+ page.... this is going to get complicated and take this thread off topic. This one is just about the specific rebranding policy for Place pages.

If your Q is re G+ and profiles and everything, best to start a new thread.

But remember no matter what, if you didn't create a G+ profile or business page yet DON'T. Only create Place page and that needs to be the official business name.

If you want to share the link so we can look and see and give you the right answer, then you need to post down in help and support. If just want to ask the general Q with no link then post in the NAP data section. Thanks.

 

[Alex Weiss]

I am moving the conversation to help and support.



Note from Linda: New thread here: http://localsearchforum.catalystema...google-page-company-name-instead-persons.html

 

[Dustybones]

Thanks For the info Linda. We had a situation with a practice that moved down the street. We contacted Google and they said that we in fact had to close the business and start another listing. We decided to work on Citations for a month ( localeze, Express Update and Acxiom etc..) after all citations were correct we went in and changed the address in G+Local with a comment showing a link to the citations. Google approved and address changed immediately. We then went into MM and changed the marker, also adding links to the citations. Marker was approved in two days. Had a few other MM'ers approve the change. So, its been 40 days and everything is holding. Are my wishes too high right now? Im feeling pretty good right now, but expect my bubble to deflate at some point lol...

FYI there ARE new Google+ Local recommendations now for how to handle MOVES.

 

[Linda Buquet]

We had a situation with a practice that moved down the street. We contacted Google and they said that we in fact had to close the business and start another listing.

How long ago did they tell you that? Because the procedure changed a couple months ago and you are just supposed to edit in dash???

after all citations were correct we went in and changed the address in G+Local with a comment showing a link to the citations. Google approved and address changed immediately.

??? Where in G+ Local dash can you add a comment and link to citations? What do you mean they approved? If you change address in dash which is what you should have done and I think you are saying you did, there is no approval you can see. You change, you verify and it goes live. Is that what you meant by approval? It just went live?

 

[Margaret Ornsby]

If a business has changed its name completely, do not edit the name to correct it. Instead: Create a new listing with the correct name and details.
Close the existing listing (the one with the old name).

So just to be clear, if the business renames itself but does not move location (eg it gets bought out), then it's supposed to "close" and create a new?
That would mean they'd lose all their reviews, yes? Even though it may simply be a change of ownership with the same staff,services,etc?

 

[Keenan Glass]

Re: Rebrand or Name Change - Map Maker Says Open New & Close Old

So just to be clear, if the business renames itself but does not move location (eg it gets bought out), then it's supposed to "close" and create a new?
That would mean they'd lose all their reviews, yes? Even though it may simply be a change of ownership with the same staff,services,etc?

Margaret - those are MM rules. The idea is that it removes the possibility of conflicting data issues with the listing. With the recent updates to MM, this may not be as much of a concern.

In Places a name change can be made directly in the Dashboard. Google may (or may not) auto create a new page.

Here is what Google has to say about name changes and whether the reviews could be moved to the new page.

https://support.google.com/places/answer/3098204?hl=en

---------- Post Merged at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:24 PM ----------

We had a situation with a practice that moved down the street. We contacted Google and they said that we in fact had to close the business and start another listing.... We then went into MM and changed the marker,

What do you mean you changed the marker?

 

[Margaret Ornsby]

Erg... keeping up with all the sets of rules. Thanks Keenan

 

[Dustybones]

Sorry Linda. Let me Clarify. Comments made in MM. I usually add links or other things to help the reviewer We attempted to just change the address in G+ Local a few times and it wasn't taking. Then sent a support email to Google a few weeks ago and got the message saying we had to close the page and re-open a new one if an address was being changed. In the end, it finally converted to the new address using the Dashboard. This is what I go from Google:

From Google:

Hello,


It appears that you're attempting to change the location of your listing. Currently, the best way to do this is to remove the old location from your dashboard, report that location as closed using "Edit business details" from the page, and create a listing for the new location in your dashboard. Changing the current address on the same listing in your dashboard may result in data presentation issues.

You will have to undergo new verification when you create the new location. This is so we can be sure you exist at the new location you're submitting. Thanks for taking the time to go through this process.



Thank you for your patience,

How long ago did they tell you that? Because the procedure changed a couple months ago and you are just supposed to edit in dash???



??? Where in G+ Local dash can you add a comment and link to citations? What do you mean they approved? If you change address in dash which is what you should have done and I think you are saying you did, there is no approval you can see. You change, you verify and it goes live. Is that what you meant by approval? It just went live?

 

[Keenan Glass]

@Dustybones - yep that's all fine.

But what do you mean when you said you changed the marker in MM?