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Google Listing Issue – We currently do not support this location

Posted: May 4, 2012 in Google Places

Yesterday a mass number of Google Places users reported they were experiencing serious issues and that their listings had completely disappeared for the local rankings in Google’s search results. One way to tell if this has occurred with your business listing is to log into your Google Places account and click on the “See your listing on Google Map”. The link will open a new window which should show how your listing is displaying on Google but for the accounts that are experiencing the issue they will see a blank page with just “We currently do not support this location” written in the top left.

We currently do not support this location

This is not the first time Places user have seen this issue but normally it only occurs with new accounts that have just been verified. The issue normally works itself out after a week however, this is the first time there have been multiple cases of seasoned listings experiencing this issue. More information can be found in the Google Business help forum.

According to Vanessa, a sort of Google Places liaison between Google and the users of the Google Places help forum posted this late yesterday:

“A bunch of you have reported seeing “We currently do not support this location” on your listing. We’re working on a fix right now and will keep you posted on progress.”

Earlier this morning Vanessa updated the forum again saying: “Just to check in here: We’re still working on this. Will let you know when I hear more.”

From what we have gathered there is no timeline predicting when the issue will be corrected. We also don’t now if the problem will be fixed for all accounts at one time or if corrections are going to be made individually. We know it is a painful process to just wait but unfortunately it is the best course of action Google listing owners can take. One thing that we have noticed is that Google recently released another update to their algorithm called “Penguin”. In the past when ever Google has initiated an update to their algorithm an increase in the number of issues that occur in Google Places typically follows. This is just speculation and we are just evaluating what we have seen in the past. That being said, we are closely monitoring the situation and will update our post as soon as more information in released regarding the issue.

New Formatting in Google Places Search Results

Posted: February 15, 2012 in Google Maps, Google Places

Over the past several weeks in Google Place results there has been numerous changes. The changes have continually been modifying the map results overall layout, number of results generating and the content displaying for each listing. The first changes that we started to notice was the number of local search results generating on the first page changing. Please reference our post from last week about the New Ranking Formats on Google’s Local Search Results.

Also mentioned in SCSD’s recent blog post “Images not displaying on Google Listing?” which talks about how there has been issues occurring within the Google Place backend for business owners. Over the past several weeks we have noticed a significant rise in the number of bugs and glitches being reports by listing business owners in Google’s support forum for Google Places. In our experience with Google Places, when a spike in the number of issues and bugs starts to occur in Google Places it is a pretty reliable sign that Google is in the process of initiating a fairly substantially update to the Google Place algorithm.

Several of the changes that we have seen so far in Google’s local search formatting:

Local results no longer display a short descriptions summarizing the business’s services.
Some Local results have links to internal pages of the business’s website.
When logged into a Google account the local results pull information from Google+.
Google reviews have been given more real estate in the results and are easier to find under each business.
The number of results that generate for local results is no longer a standard 1, 3 or 7-pack.

Below is an example of the new layout of Google’s local search results.

We will continue to monitor the Google’s local search results to see more effects the change to the algorithm will have on Google Places.

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New Ranking Formats on Google’s Local Search Results

Posted: February 7, 2012 in Google, Google Places

Several years ago when Google’s local search was new and just a map with pin drops Google would show anywhere from 1 to 10 results on the map. About a year ago Google updated the local results to display as they are now, with the business information of the results in the main content area and a corresponding map on the right-hand side of the page. These results appeared in a standard format, display either as a 7-pack, 3-pack or 1-pack.

Recently however the standard 1, 3 and 7 pack formatting has been changing. We have been tracking multiple search phrases and from our finding we have found the typical 7-pack being replaced. The new local results for searches that normally displayed a 7-pack are now showing 4-packs, 5-packs and 6-packs. This change has been very frustrating from some because searches that were showing seven results and are now showing less are bumping the end positions off the first page. We have also tracked the several search phrases that have now started displaying an 8-pack which can be seen if one searches: PR Firms San Diego CA. Click on the link to go directly to the results (http://goo.gl/yHL96).

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Google’s New Local Search Results Format

Posted: November 3, 2011 in Google, Google Places, Local Search Optimization

Google has introduced its new format of displaying Google Places or “local business” results on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The first and most noticeable change is the trademark red pin is now grey. The pin drop only displays the classic red if the users cursor is located over the designated business. Other changes include the map displaying the local results has decreased in size and has been pushed up into the top left corner of the results. The local results themselves are broken down into two columns. The first column displays the business name, website and total number of Google reviews. The second column displays the ranking, address and phone number.

New 7 Pack

Here is an example of Google’s new local search results format for a 7- Pack of business results.

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New 1 Pack

If Google determines the user is looking for a specific company Google will generate a SERP format which devotes the majority of the results page to the desired business’s information. The Business Places information fills the entire left sidebar where PayPer-Click adds typically generate.

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Impact of the change:

This is the second major format change Google has made to the way local results are displayed this year. The changes seem to be based on Google desire to provide users with the most relevant and largest amount of information. Although the information that generates for each business in the local results is completely dependent how much information the given business has shared with online resources and directories. Further showing the value of local search optimization for both small and large businesses.

What does the future hold?

Google Places is continually going through algorithm updates and format changes to stay up to date and ahead of the competition. However, it will be interesting to see if these most recent changes will somehow be linked to Google + in the future we are not sure but the changes are keep everyone on their toe.
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Google Places New Business Questions and Ideas Forum:

Posted: September 9, 2011 in Google, Google Places

Google is clearly making an effort to hear what Google Places users are shouting about having just recently rolled out a new GP moderated forum. The forum will function as an outlet for GP users to share their suggestions and opinions about how Google Places can be improved and vote on which issues hold more value. Having looked through the forum many of the 100 plus ideas that have already been submitted drill the issues that have always plagued Google Places from some time. Suggestions for better managing duplicate listings, transferring/sharing ownership of listings, more accurate analytics. The list goes on but there are some secondary suggestions a little more unique such as multilingual capabilities, option for open 24 hours and better control over the listing images.

Overall, this forum is a step in the right direction and Google is showing that Google Places is becoming a more valued element of Google entity as a whole.

Below is a fragment of Google’s open statement to Google Places Idea Forum:

“You told us you had questions, so let’s hear ‘em: Ask us about Google Places for business and vote up inquiries from fellow users — anything from questions about editing a Place page to ideas for new features………”

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