Favorite and Flagged! An Odd Google Favorite Places Story.
Tuesday 15 Dec 2009
Here’s one for the books. Grah Safe & Lock, a San Diego Locksmith client whom it was our pleasure to work with this year, has been awarded a Favorite Places poster from Google. Owner, Glenn Younger, has cause to be proud of this achievement…only there’s a small problem. A couple of days before Glenn’s poster and congratulatory letter arrived in the mail, he discovered that his Google Maps listing had vanished and that his LBC account held the dread message: Flagged, Waiting For Content Check. The irony of a flagged Favorite Place will no doubt strike you without further explanation on my part.
As you may recall, Google has been taking some action in the ultra-spammed Locksmith category of late. On November 19th, I blogged about the exceptional news that, for the first time in ages, the 7 pack in San Diego actually contained mostly legitimate locksmiths. Google had taken some direct action against the mountain of spam that has made this category next to useless for users and honest business owners. We celebrated this great change.
Now, we’re back to scratching our heads. I’ve advised Glenn Younger to get in touch with that wizard of locksmith mapsspam: Mike Blumenthal to see if the two of them can get to the bottom of this problem. Mike has reported the fact that, for the past 6 months or so, the category ‘Locksmith’ has apparently had some type of flag/alert associated with it at the Googleplex, and perhaps this is the problem. I must say, though, I’d like to know how locksmiths are supposed to categorize themselves if not with this obvious word. Ah, what a muddle, and I’m hoping Mike can muddle his way through it. If anyone can figure out what’s going on with this, it’s Mike.
I’m crossing my fingers that Google will step in and remedy this situation. Imagine the disappointment of any customer who might see Glenn Younger’s poster, get out their cell phone and scan the bar code, only to be taken to…nothing. Not good for Google’s promotion, or for Grah.
6 comments Tuesday 15 Dec 2009 | admin | Local SEO
"Not just designers, but innovators,
"The site you created is a real reflection of what I have to say about my
business. I so enjoy working with you as a team...you make everything easy.
I really appreciate all your tips of how to ease into the blogosphere and the
pointers of how to maximize FriedmanRealtor.com. If I do half of what you
recommended, I'll be eons ahead of where I was."
"Working around the challenges, coming up with creative solutions
and using best in class and state of the art web design principles, Solas
gave us much more than expected. If you are in a situation where you would like
to stand out as an exceptional company, Solas Web Design should be your
first call."
"My work and my business is better for having had the opportunity to
work with these wonderful people. This level of intuitive customer service
combined with state of the art work is rare and precious. I feel
fortunate to have found them."
Another example of Google putting the cart before the horse? While I credit them for trying to clean up the locksmith industry it sounds like they are throwing the baby out with the bathwater…
There’s a lack of ‘horse’ sense to it for sure, David! I’d really like Google to lend a hand here.
Nice to see you here, David! I know how busy you’ve been with the Kelsey conference.
Miriam
So Maps.Google.com has rewarded and acknowledged your locksmith client…and it has punished the locksmith/client. Sounds like the left hand and right hand don’t know what they are doing.
Hopefully this gets cleaned up ASAP. In the meantime, congrats on helping them get a lot of attention and visits in Maps. Of course, now that Google has pulled the Map/ the record…maybe they’ll send a guy with a big threatening dog and try and get the Favorite Places Poster back.
What a dilemma!!!
Ha ha, Earlpearl. I will warn Glenn Younger about the dog.
I agree with you about the right hand/left hand scenario. It seems very absurd.
Thanks so much for stopping by. BTW, I really enjoyed your guest post at Mike’s blog.
Miriam
I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We’ve looked into this and we will restore this listing. This is a result of more scrutiny given to some businesses with a high incidence of spam.
Welcome Joel,
That’s great to hear. Incidentally, we truly support Google taking the strongest possible spam fighting measures in the locksmith industry (and elsewhere) and were so excited when the 7 pack started showing legitimate businesses again. If Google can combine this with keeping the real businesses afloat in Maps, it will be truly super.
Thank you for stopping by to let us know Google will take care of this. I know Glenn Younger will be very glad to hear this news.
Miriam