Google changing to aim at delivering more local search results. As part of this drive they have rebranded Google Local Business Centre and brought it in line with their Place Pages. The result is the rather hip sounding – Google Places.
A google Press released said "One out of five searches on Google are related to location, and we want to make sure that businesses are able to be found and put their best foot forward. We’re excited to announce Google Places today, as it’s just the beginning of what’s to come from our efforts to make Google more local"
Google hopes that this rebarand will bring the old Local Business Centre up to speed with the popular Place Pages. These changes will only affect Google.com and US initially.
The Place Pages, which are found in the Google local searches, offer images, reviews and contact information for businesses and have proved to be very popular in allowing people to better decide what business to use or where to go.
Google annouced the following new features to Google local:
- Service areas: If you travel to serve customers, you can now show which geographic areas you serve. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private.
- A new, simple way to advertise: For just $25 per month, businesses in select cities can make their listings stand out on Google.com and Google Maps with Tags. As of today, we’re rolling out Tags to three new cities — Austin, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. — in addition to ongoing availability in Houston and San Jose, CA. In the coming weeks we'll also be introducing Tags in Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder, and San Francisco.
- Business photo shoots: In addition to uploading your own photos, businesses in select cities can now request a free photo shoot of the interior of their business which we'll use to supplement existing photos of businesses on Place Pages. We've been experimenting with this over the past few months, and now have created a site (note: live as of 9pm PDT) for businesses to learn more and express their interest in participating.
- Customized QR codes: From the dashboard page of Google Places, businesses in the U.S. can download a QR code that’s unique to their business, directly from their dashboard page. QR codes can be placed on business cards or other marketing materials, and customers can scan them with certain smartphones to be taken directly to the mobile version of the Place Page for that business.
- Favorite Places: We're doing a second round of our Favorite Places program, and are mailing window decals to 50,000 businesses around the US. These decals include a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to directly view the mobile Place Page for the business to learn more about their great offerings.
Contact Modeware if you are considering a local results search engine optimised campaign for maximum results.
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