Confirming Digital Marketing Listings On Google Maps

The Google Maps service of Google has proved useful for Internet users and digital marketing professionals, alike. Google Maps is a web mapping service application of Google, which is free of cost for non-commercial usage. It provides street maps of most countries in the world, a route planner for travelling to different destinations by road, and an urban business locator. The maps and satellite images available on Google Maps is provided through a close variant of the Mercator projection system.

Google Maps are also displayed to the right-hand side of search results pages, when location-centric key phrases are entered in the search engine. These maps are marked with the location of various stores/centres, which sell the product/service being searched for. For example, if you run a search for 'dentist London', you will be able to view a search results page, listing seven dentists that have a Google Places page, together with their locations marked out on a Google Map. This map will also mark-out the location of numerous other dentists/clinics, which are located in the area.

To be found on Google Maps, it is first necessary for local businesses to list themselves there, which is mainly done through Google Places. These listings have proved to be very beneficial for digital marketing purposes, as prospective customers are able to locate and find the stores they want to visit, very conveniently. With a large number of people using smartphones equipped with GPS and Internet connectivity, Google Maps has become a great tool for finding restaurants, salons and retail stores etc, while on the go.

While setting up a Places Page, Google requires you to verify your listing through phone, SMS or email. While Google has created millions of Places Pages, only about seven percent of them have actually been verified by a business, and optimised for digital marketing purposes. In the first week of May 2011, many digital marketing professionals noticed that a small yellow overlay appeared on the Google Places listings of some businesses, asking users if the place currently exists in its current location.

This message appears to the right of the photo displayed on the listing, and says "Google wonders.is this place still here". Users are given three options to answer this question: yes, no, and don't know. Digital marketing experts believe that Google started using this overlay to check if certain businesses are still in operation, or have closed down, since a Places Page was created for them. Surprisingly, Google does not seem to have a system to check whether the phone number submitted during the verification process is still working.

Other digital marketing analysts believe that this overlay is Google's way of checking the authenticity of the information provided by businesses that have set up Places Pages. This is because many users have complained about unscrupulous people setting up fraud businesses, with fake addresses. If large numbers of users inform Google that a certain digital marketing business does not exist at its said location, Google can choose to remove such a company from its Places listings.

Qudos Digital is a leading digital marketing agency and can be contacted on 020 8891 2077 or info@qudosdigital.co.uk.

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