Place Pages Raise SEO, Reputation and Click Concerns

Google has people riled up with its latest local search effort Google Place Pages. Place Pages are a Google Maps feature launched last week, which serve the purpose of providing everything you want to know about a place (a city or a business) in one spot. For example, if you search for a specific restaurant, you should get web pages, directions, reviews, images, street view imagery, business hours, etc. Google lets businesses submit specific categories they want to include.

There is concern from some that Google is trying to eliminate the need for users to leave Google and even visit a small business’ web site. WebProNews reader Doug Stewart, who wonders if this is an “assault against the small business website,” commented, “Google wants people to spend more time on Google. Yahoo wants people to spend more time on Yahoo. Facebook wants people to spend more time on Facebook. Several of these large online “media” [companies] are doing everything in their power to keep the eyeballs on their website

Will Google Eliminate the Need for Small Business Websites? | WebProNews.

Sep 24, 2009 at 4:08pm ET by Greg Sterling

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This is an Article by Chris Silver Smith writing for Search Engine Land its titled…

Brave new world for yellow pages, Google nabs marketshare -strangles local directories

Earlier, this Spring, a number of local search marketers noticed that Google began displaying their 10-pack of local business listings based on searchers’ geolocation when search queries didn’t include a local search term. Matt McGee suggested that this would likely alter user behavior and reduce referral traffic to online directories. Stats show it may have happened. Read on about this “Brave New World” faced by internet yellow pages.

If you ever doubted that Local Search Marketing was hurting the Yellow Pages then this article from Noseweek is for you!

This should add further impetus to my warning that you must claim your Google Local Business Listing before someone else does!

Local online ad marketing agency Entelligence is to take its battle with international behemoth Google to another level. It has filed an appeal to the Competition Tribunal against last year’s Competition Commission ruling which rejected Entelligence’s charge that Google is abusing its dominance of the South African market.

The Competition Commission did concede that Google was trying to steal one of Entelligence’s major clients, Yellow Pages, but said this did not amount to anti-competitive behaviour. A curious twist to the tale: Yellow Pages wasn’t interested in doing business directly with Google.

Google was in no mood to listen: later, in a conversation with Entelligence CEO Sean Riley, Masie said: “I do not respect this agreement” and “Google intends servicing this customer directly”.

You just gotta love them, read more from Noseweek