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Google Places Now Requesting Business Licenses?

by ADukes81
16 replies
I came across this article this morning and thought I would share it with the great peeps of the Warrior Forum.

Google Places Now Requesting Business Licenses? | Understanding Google Places & Local Search
#business #google #licenses #places #requesting
  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    Thanks for posting that is an interesting story. I wonder since google had the recent Penguin Update if this is something along the same lines for GP. Could they be attempting to keep total control of Places ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Stranger Danger
    This should surprise me - but it doesn't.
    If this becomes policy, I could see legitimate pros and cons resulting from this.

    Fortunately, I have decided to focus my business on something that does NOT rely on Google at all. It feels AWESOME.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bredfan
    I'm of two minds on this...

    First, my default position is that G is a business and can do whatever it wants. Its ubiquity and commercial success doesn't mean it should make everything easy and free.

    But my second mind is annoyed and actively pursuing business methods that avoid G. So, it's fine if they want to treat their users like s*&%, but they should know that if they do, many of us will leave.
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  • Profile picture of the author ebizman
    this is CRAZY
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    • Profile picture of the author Vikuna2009+
      ...and the next step is that you would have to scan your rental agreement so that they could actually verify that you live on that address, with a little marker indicating that your rent is paid (green), you are going through eviction (red) or, your place is now vacant (yellow). That way, Google can collect a fee once the property is rented or completely eliminate you, should you not comply...

      Eva
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  • Profile picture of the author Stranger Danger
    Or, we will all have mandatory google scanners in our homes (handheld, of course)...to scan the bar codes that have been surgically placed under our skin.

    Mark of the google beast...quite apocalyptic.

    Google places, anyone?
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  • Profile picture of the author globalpro
    And yet I wonder if this isn't part of their overall strategy to stop people from 'gaming' the system. Legitimate businesses won't mind for the benefits of the listing (at least not from what I can see).

    Considering they just went through, and still are, the process of cleaning up all the 'junk' people use to skew rankings, I am not surprised at all if they follow through with it.

    Just my thoughts.

    John
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    This is not something that is going to be mandated LOL.

    No need to freak out or worry, at this time they are NOT requiring businesses show their business licenses but this is something they have done ever SINCE google maps/places were integrated.

    It isn't exactly about the google places listing, but more about the maps and having the business name on the map. Sometimes in a residential area and it flags the business as high risk of scam in their own algorithm, the business needs to provide the license.

    Locksmiths run into this all the time, or used to until they adjusted how they do things. Some security services and ATM services might need to do this. I believe SOME pawn shops in certain areas have been asked to do this as well.

    This is something that happens maybe 1 out of every 10-20,000 listings. Very rare, and not going to happen often at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheCG
    I wouldn't be surprised if Places eventually becomes a paid service especially as more and more businesses become dependent on it for bigger and bigger parts of their business.
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  • Profile picture of the author MonteMichaels
    I don't see anything wrong with this at all. It will help keep those that are trying to scam the business owners out and make it more difficult for them.

    If these guys would be playing by the rules in the first place Google wouldn't have to implement so many updates to defend against them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stranger Danger
    Web design.

    Edit: I toyed with lead-gen/site rentals for a short while, but the risk involvement is just too high.
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  • Profile picture of the author webdave
    If you read through the comments on this blog you will see on comment #8...

    8.Hey guys this was a VERY unique case and the biz license was requested for a very specific out of the ordinary case. I was the one that escalated this to Vanessa, so know the background details.
    I don’t think you need to worry about it becoming standard practice or anything. This specific situation would not come up very often.
    Comment by Linda Buquet (174 comments) — May 2, 2012 @ 11:28 am

    Whether or not big G will make this a requirement in the future-who knows?
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  • Profile picture of the author goldog
    It looks like they may be increasing their diligence against pseudo businesses (like maybe some of us are running). I would worry more about myself (I work from home) than for my offline clients who are mostly "on the blvd" in a business district.

    Hmm. Something to think about.

    If you are running a multi-million dollar Financial Corp out of apartment 218 in the projects it might raise a red flag.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aussieguy
    Excellent stuff from what I can see. Might stop a couple WSO's based on using false addresses etc, lol
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