A new player announced yesterday they were throwing their hat into the directory ring.
As with any site indexed online that contains Citation Information, Innkeepers must always verify the data being used for their property.
Your NAP (Name, Address and Phone) are of particular concern, as that Google Places is using that data to identify your business, and ultimately your placement in the Local Listings (Red Balloons tagged A, B, C, etc.), Google Maps, Mobile Searches and more.
The new directory’s name is Wandari, and can be found at www.wandari.com
Steps to Check your Listing...
Step 1: Type in your city, and choose from the drop-down to locate your listing(s).
Step 2: Scroll through to the very bottom to see if you are listed more than once.
Step 3: We do suggest, as we do with all directories, that you take the time to verify that you:
a) have 1 unique listing
b) the NAP is completely accurate
c) the information is not duplicated from information anywhere else on the Web
d) determine if you want your information to be part of the directory
Here is some sample data from this new directory. You may click the image to see it full size.
If you accepted the Free Facebook App offer from Buuteeq, who are also the owners of Wandari, then your information in the directory will match the information in your Facebook App. See the example of 1825 Inn Bed and Breakfast.
But, if you are one of those Innkeepers that said NO to the Free Facebook App, then it looks like the data is being taken from other locations online to be used in the Wandari directory.
See the example of White Oak Manor Bed and Breakfast. This data was taken from somewhere online, and ended up with 2 separate listings.
Neither of which are completely accurate.
Today’s post is simply a heads up for all Innkeepers to review and address your listing information in this new directory, and deal with it as you see fit.
Lisa Kolb
President and Co-Founder
Acorn Internet Services, Inc.
Educating our Industry One Innkeeper at a Time!
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate not only this post but the other posts that are out there in reference to this “player”. I continually watch my website on a daily basis. I have worked too hard cleaning it up, making sure that I don’t have duplicate information out there and keeping everything up to date. I absolutely refuse to have an unethical company ruin all the work that I have done. When I saw that they scraped my website for their directory I was livid. I have had nothing to do with this company from the beginning and have had to “block” their emails from coming to me. I had been checking every day to make sure I wasn’t listed and then all of a sudden I saw it today. They obviously didn’t take what the Innkeepers stated on the PAII Forum very seriously. Needless to say I have tried to call and email…nothing. Let’s hope that group pressure will force them to correct the situation. Thanks for the information and watching out for us!
Thanks for keeping us updated on this information, not sure how I feel about it yet, I think they should ask before just using any of our information. I would assume that they understand that duplicate info could hurt us in the long run with Google, so why would they even want to do that? I will sure check out my info as I am listed on the new site, but never gave them any permission to do that. Please let us know if there is anything else we need to do besides check it all out for correctness.
I am the Innkeeper of the White Oak Manor bed and breakfast that Lisa has referenced in the second example. I never asked that our Inn be added to this directory and I was totally appalled when I found this listing and to find 2 was doubly disturbing. The worst part of these finds is that they both have incorrect information, I have spent the last 6 months trying to fix every listing I could find that had the wrong information about our bed and breakfast. I don’t like someone trying to force me into a listing that I don’t want.
The intention may have been for their company to compete with other directory companies but since they have gone about it in this manner I can not see the value in it for me, the only way to change the information they have included is to create an account and sign in to their database. I don’t plan to do that at all. At least other companies that you ask to get listed on have the right information BEFORE they make your listing live for Google to see so that your placement is not messed up with the wrong Name/Address/Phone #.
One of the major things that really makes me angry is that I believe the addresses and phone numbers are so blatantly wrong that you have to get it fixed. THAT is so wrong in my book.
Tammy Doriot
Lisa, ever grateful, as always for your watching our backs!
We don’t seem to be listed there – yet. If and when we are scraped we’ll do whatever we can to have ourselves removed. We have no desire to be associated with an unscrupulous company that has no regard for the damage it’s practices will cause. Thanks to you, Lisa, we’ll be watching carefully. Practices like this send the blood pressure out of control!
Hayden,
They have you listed in Crozet, VA. Here’s the link:
http://www.wandari.com/usa/virginia/crozet/the-inn-at-sugar-hollow-farm
I think your Address and one of the Phone numbers has problems.
Lisa
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Acorn-IS for being the company they are today, I truly feel that my business is partnered with one of the best design companies out there. I believe that Lisa and her team really do care about us and our business, that they take the time to keep an eye out for these things and they don’t jump to conclusions lightly either.
Thank you for keeping us posted, I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for changes when they come along.
Lisa, i’m assuming if when you get to your listing it says “Dexter Maine” and then you click the “details” button and bring up the full AP thats correct, then everythings ok?
They seem to of listed a place in my town thats actually 90mins away too lol
Mark,
Indeed you have only 1 listing I can find on Wandari. And since you said YES to the Facebook app, the information provided for the App is the very same information showing up in Wandari.
As long as what you typed into their backoffice system is what you want to appear any of the Buuteeq “services” (Facebook App, Wandari or their canned Website layout – which you don’t have, as you have your own custom Web site) then you should be good.
Lisa
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