Thursday 31 May 2012

Going Local: Places moves into to the Google+ circle

Internet search giant Google this week announced that they are integrating Google Places, the on line business listing and ratings service, with Google+, their social media platform. 

Google Places listings will be migrated to a new feature on Google+ called Local which, for users of the Google+platform, can be found as an icon on the left-hand side of your homepage (if you can't see it there, check under 'More' - you can then click and drag it onto the sidebar menu for easier future navigation).

It makes sense - for Google at least - to do this. The changes will turn Google's geo-locational listings product into a far more social tool and will no doubt drive more user traffic to the Google+ platform which, despite rapid initial growth, has so far failed to ignite the interest of the masses and pose a threat to social media behemoths like Facebook and Twitter. It's a move that was clearly calculated to boost traffic to and within the network.

The new look Google+ Local should provide a far richer and integrated way for people to discover, share and interact with local businesses - provided, of course, that you are a Google+ user. The key features of the new system are:

  • The ability for users to share reviews and photos of places - either just to their network or to the wider public, depending on privacy settings,
  • A new method of rating and reviewing places based on Zagat (a more complicated but arguably more accurate 30-point scoring system), rather than the original star ratings,
  • A Google+ page for each local business listing, where users can go to find reviews, photos and other useful information, and
  • Provided you're logged into your Google+ account, reviews from people in your circles are highlighted in Google search results. 
     
What this means for your business 
 Well, if you already have a listing on Google Places (a great many local businesses do) then your listing has already been automatically converted into a Google+ Local listing. Internet users that click the 'more info' link via Google Maps or Search will be directed to the new Google+Local page for your location.

However, for the moment at least, you can still log into www.google.co.uk/places to edit and manage your listing if you have one. There's a new layout for listings - so you'll want to take a moment or two to familiarise yourself - but all of your content should be available as before. You can still use this route to verify listing data, make updates, and respond to reviews, and if you use AdWords your ads will operate as normal.

Google are also trialling an Offers system which allows you to create an share customer offers for them to redeem with you using android smart phones. This functionality is currently being offered free for an undefined 'initial trial period', after which (equally undefined) charges will apply. 

If you already have a Google+ page for your business, you'll be frustrated to know that you can't yet integrate it with your local listing to create a single brand identity on the social network. However, assurances have been made by Google that this functionality is in the pipeline and will be rolled out soon.

And if you currently use Google Places to review listings...
Then all of your past reviews and comments will have been migrated to Google+ Local but attributed anonymously to 'A Google user'. If you want to have these attributed to you and to set privacy preferences, then you'll need to create a G+ account (if you don't already have one) and migrate your data by going to 'My Places' in Google Maps.

If you want to continue to review and rate listings on Google in the future then you'll need a Google+ account to do so. Its a bit sneaky of Google but you can hardly blame them. Who wouldn't do the same for their 'baby'?