Warning: Heed Your Emails from Google

One of our customers (name changed) recently received an email from Google:

Knowing that he hadn't made any changes to her listing recently, he sent the email on to Lisa to take a look at the email and tell him if it was legitimate and what, if anything, he needed to do about it.

Lisa called me and we took a look at the customer's Google + Local page and Places listing. We really read over the email and realized it was generated from Google Maps, which lead us to look at Google Map Maker (not the same as Google Maps). When we searched for the customer's property in Map Maker, we saw immediately that a "Community Editor" had edited the property type from "Bed & Breakfast" to "Point of Interest" and also deleted the local phone number and email address. Lisa jumped right in and re-edited the information as well as reporting the "Community Editor" as a spammer. What you need to know about Map Maker is that anyone who has a Google account can make edits to your Map Maker listing and submit them for approval. When Google approves the change, you will get an email like the one above. You MUST log into your Google account, and make sure your listing has not been changed, deleted, or reported as closed. If you need help, contact your webmaster. Happily, the innkeeper received another email from Google the same day we made the re-edits, telling her that her edits were being reviewed.

We had covered inns being reported closed in our Google Places webinar as part of our Acorn University series. Acorn U is the easiest way to stay on top of the latest changes in internet presence management. If you're interested in joining Acorn U, please email me at : annie@acorn-is.com

My main point today is that if you get an email from Google, make sure you read it and respond immediately, don't let it linger. If you have a question, ask someone to help.

Annie Buck
Sales/Information
Acorn IS