Google Places Thinks Jack In The Box Is A Vegan Restaurant
Monday 06 Feb 2012
I run the search ‘vegan restaurant, x city, california’ not infrequently to see if any noteworthy new ones have turned up. Well, today I encountered Google’s opinion on the 2nd most relevant vegan restaurant in Novato, California, and as you can see from my screenshot…it’s Jack in the Box.
Really, it’s kind of the last place I’d think of going for a vegan meal, but what do I know? There’s nothing in the reviews naming this franchise as a fine vegan restaurant, worthy of #2 placement in the local SERPs. I haven’t dug into the citations, but perhaps Google knows something I don’t about Jack In The Box. Out of curiosity, I did a quick search for ‘jack in the box vegan’ and lo and behold, there are websites out there telling you how to eat vegan items at this chain.
I’m left with 3 thoughts.
It’s very weird to think of vegans eating at a Jack In the Box.
Google Places is sometimes humorous.
The town of Novato is not doing so great cuisine-wise if this is truly the 2nd best offering for vegan diners.
What do you think? Should Google have designated this famous fast food restaurant a destination for vegans? When Google has a paucity of information for a specific category of businesses in a specific town, should they just throw other things into the SERPs, even if they aren’t well related? For example, in a town with 2 dentists, should the 3rd result be a chiropractor, just to fill up an extra spot?
Is Jack in the Box as vegan restaurant a successful display of relevance?
9 comments Monday 06 Feb 2012 | admin | Local SEO
I’d be surprised if Jack in the Box even had vegan fries. I rely on Google a lot for vegan restaurant finding so making a mes sup like that is a big deal to me. And also kinda a slap in the face to vegans.
In their defense, JITB serves up a formidable diet coke and curly fries.
Hi Jordan K and Jordan F!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m sure JITB has many fans…but I’m not secure that a large percentage of them would be vegans.
Jordan K – When Google gets anything wrong, the potential for a large number of people to be affected by it is just built into the scenario because of their vast market share.
“Owned! Google knows about this restaurant by looking at Yahoo’s local pages. It it looks like the “content” was just some code that was on the page. Poor Google..
“29; Restaurants (24; 3; 3; 3; 2; 2; 1; Cuban Restaurants (1; Desserts (1; 1; 1; 1; Scandinavian Restaurants (1; Vegetarian Restaurants”"
Hi Jordan,
Can you share a link? Would love to see what you are seeing.
Miriam
Admin,
I found it. Which is why his comment is in quotes. It’s on the maps page.
http://postimage.org/image/9xyoj40oj/
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=vegan+restaurant,+novato+city,+california&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl
Great sleuthing, Jordan, and thanks for pointing out the quotes on Jordan’s comment, Blaine! Looks like the big culprit to me, though there could be other types of association going on as well. I appreciate you both taking the time to dig into this. Amazing if as low a signal as that can win #2 rankings for a business.
@ Miriam, what link were you wanting me to share here? Or were you speaking to Jordan K?
Hi Jordan F,
Yes, I was addressing Jordan K – should have been clearer on that. Thanks for asking!
Miriam