Goog-411 another reason why it helps to have good placement

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swirt

Forum founder. Former Owner.
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Goog-411 is a new service from Google that allows for free information and connection (by cell or landline) to businesses by location. The data is pulled from Google Local (Google Maps) so it pays once again to make sure your listing is doing as well as it can in Google Maps. First on the list for a given search is the first to be listed over the phone.
www.google.com/goog411
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Sorry, I was just looking online...I'm going to call the number myself and see what I get for my area.
Well, if that wasn't the bees knees! I'm not the first, don't know how to get there, but I'm listed. Kind of too far down the list, there were opportunities to get out of the directory before my name came up. Dang.
BTW, I think they record the number that called in...
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Sorry, I was just looking online...I'm going to call the number myself and see what I get for my area.
Well, if that wasn't the bees knees! I'm not the first, don't know how to get there, but I'm listed. Kind of too far down the list, there were opportunities to get out of the directory before my name came up. Dang.
BTW, I think they record the number that called in...
.
I'm at work at UVA so calling from there. Does anyone know why someone who is listed number one on Google Maps is not listed at all when we dial or where I can email Google to find out what I need to do to be on the list???
Riki
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
 
I just tried and my town ain't even included.....I'll check out the site .
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
Thank you so much. I thought when I set up to have the post card sent that when I entered the password from that that I was verified. I'm not happy that the other tour co is listed when I've been doing this for six years!!!
He is a newbie! and the only one listed!
Riki
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
Thank you so much. I thought when I set up to have the post card sent that when I entered the password from that that I was verified. I'm not happy that the other tour co is listed when I've been doing this for six years!!!
He is a newbie! and the only one listed!
Riki
.
Oh, if you sent the card in then you are (should be) verified. Hmmm ... mental note to experiment with goog411 some more.
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
My business has been verified a long time ago and still nothing. Town name is not found, nor by zip code.....OMG!!! have we been pushed off the planet????
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
My business has been verified a long time ago and still nothing. Town name is not found, nor by zip code.....OMG!!! have we been pushed off the planet????
.
I wonder if it is a case of speech interpretation not getting the town name right. Tok may get interpreted as Talk or Tock.
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
Thank you so much. I thought when I set up to have the post card sent that when I entered the password from that that I was verified. I'm not happy that the other tour co is listed when I've been doing this for six years!!!
He is a newbie! and the only one listed!
Riki
.
Oh, if you sent the card in then you are (should be) verified. Hmmm ... mental note to experiment with goog411 some more.
.
Yes, I've verified by card a couple of times. I just went in and updated info and added pictures and verified by phone. I'm going to do the same with the B&B - add photos and verify again. I wish there was an email I could send to asking them about this. I don't suppose they would activate it before they added everyone?
Riki
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
Thank you so much. I thought when I set up to have the post card sent that when I entered the password from that that I was verified. I'm not happy that the other tour co is listed when I've been doing this for six years!!!
He is a newbie! and the only one listed!
Riki
.
Oh, if you sent the card in then you are (should be) verified. Hmmm ... mental note to experiment with goog411 some more.
.
Yes, I've verified by card a couple of times. I just went in and updated info and added pictures and verified by phone. I'm going to do the same with the B&B - add photos and verify again. I wish there was an email I could send to asking them about this. I don't suppose they would activate it before they added everyone?
Riki
.
egoodell said:
I don't suppose they would activate it before they added everyone?
Possible, but I doubt it. Google has massive amounts of data and can transfer it faster than anyone else. Their infrastructure is amazing. I think it is more likely related to how they are pulling the results out on the search.
 
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki.
egoodell said:
I just checked and I am not listed either under "wine tours" or under "bed and breakfast".
I believe I am correctly listed under Google maps but will have to check.
This is for charlottesville, Virginia. Can anyone see what my problem is for not being listed?
Riki
You are listed...

And number 1 for wine tours
.
But if you call the 800 goog 411 and ask for charlotttesville, virginia "bed and breakfasts" I am not one of the 8 that they offer.
When you ask for "wine tours" they only list my competition as the only wine tour, and I have been in business much longer than he has.
I need to find out why....
Riki
.
Hmm....It doesn't make any sense to me that they wouldn't be using the same results as in Google maps. I can't fathom a reason why they would have two different algorithms. Have you ever gone through the process of verifying your listing?
.
How do I verify? When I search I show up -
Riki
.
Go to maps.google.com and find your business and click on the link so that only your business listing is visible. Look for a link that says "add or edit your business". Then follow the prompts to edit your listing. When you make the edits it will give you two options for verifying your business. One by phone (your business phone) and one by mail. Maps listing updates are often slow to repsond so it may be a while before your listing is updated.
My hunch (just a hunch) is that on the phone they may be restricting the list to only businesses that have been verified. I need more info to test that hunch. I'll be doing some research in the near future.
.
My business has been verified a long time ago and still nothing. Town name is not found, nor by zip code.....OMG!!! have we been pushed off the planet????
.
I wonder if it is a case of speech interpretation not getting the town name right. Tok may get interpreted as Talk or Tock.
.
I did say "Tok, Alaska" slow and clear...it asked me 4 times to say just the city and state, which I did. I tried it fast, I tried it slow...maybe I should have a few drinks, the computer may understand me then..haha
My zip code did not work either....oh well, it's new and they have to work out the bugs.
 
Here's what I have looked at more closely. In looking at the results for my area as well as some results for some of my clients, it seems that the results being returned by goog411 are similar to those returned by Google maps but not withing the normal listings. They match what is returned by going to maps.google.com then using the find businesses tab. Incidentally, if you say "bee and bee" it uses "b&b" for the search as opposed to "b and b" or "bnb".
Riki I am not sure if this explains what is happening with your listing or not as I haven't called for your area or wine tours.
Mooseberry, my guess (other than the language issue which I think you covered by using a zipcode) might be related to your business actually having two listings Duplicate listings can create a bit of a hicup or two. Just to make sure you are seeing the same results I am. I see one listing for you at A and another listing for you at C. The A listing has 3 reviews attached to it and the C listing does not. You want to keep the one with the reviews attached, and delete the other one. The other problem I see is that the A listing has a PObox for the address. This causes a problem because the PO boxes usually have no way to have a correct map location. If you have a physical address, even if that is not how you get your mail, you should use that in your google business listing and on your website. Here is a bit of an article I wrote on the topic of B&Bs with PO Boxes.
 
Here's what I have looked at more closely. In looking at the results for my area as well as some results for some of my clients, it seems that the results being returned by goog411 are similar to those returned by Google maps but not withing the normal listings. They match what is returned by going to maps.google.com then using the find businesses tab. Incidentally, if you say "bee and bee" it uses "b&b" for the search as opposed to "b and b" or "bnb".
Riki I am not sure if this explains what is happening with your listing or not as I haven't called for your area or wine tours.
Mooseberry, my guess (other than the language issue which I think you covered by using a zipcode) might be related to your business actually having two listings Duplicate listings can create a bit of a hicup or two. Just to make sure you are seeing the same results I am. I see one listing for you at A and another listing for you at C. The A listing has 3 reviews attached to it and the C listing does not. You want to keep the one with the reviews attached, and delete the other one. The other problem I see is that the A listing has a PObox for the address. This causes a problem because the PO boxes usually have no way to have a correct map location. If you have a physical address, even if that is not how you get your mail, you should use that in your google business listing and on your website. Here is a bit of an article I wrote on the topic of B&Bs with PO Boxes..
Thanks so much Swirt for the info. I will go and get rid of one of the listings.
It is midnight here, but I will read your article first thing in the am.
Thanks again.
 
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