Added July 28, 2011 by 428 Comments

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Local, Search Engine Optimization

Outside Reviews? No Thanks! Google Places Create Their Own ‘Hood

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Google Places Reviews

Depending on how new you are to the “neighborhood,” you may have recently noticed some big changes on your business’s Google Places page. Google Place pages have been revamped; they no longer display outside customer reviews from third-party websites like Yelp, Citysearch, and Tripadvisor and now focus exclusively on reviews from Google users.

In a post made on Google’s blog, a company representative stated, “Based on careful thought about the future direction of Place pages and feedback we’ve heard over the past few months, review snippets from other web sources have now been removed from Place pages.” In lieu of showing third-party content, Place pages now encourage visitors to “Write a review” or “Upload a photo.” (Well, isn’t that nice of them?)

How will these changes impact your business’s Places page?

Because there are no longer clearly visible review snippets from third-party websites, it may mean that your business page on those sites will get less traffic and reviews – since there’s an obvious focus on getting new user reviews on Google Places, though, traffic and reviews on your Places page should increase.

Given Google’s influence, only time will tell if sites like Yelp are going to become MySpace-esque digital wastelands…the more powerful Google gets, though, the more likely it is to happen.

Small Business Tip

Be prepared! Now is a great time to optimize your business page on Google Places. Make sure it’s ready for increased traffic and exposure!

Have any questions or suggestions on how to optimize your business’s Google Places page? Post them in the comments section!

Image source: Google Places

About Kevin HaynesFollow Kevin on Twitter

Kevin Haynes is the founder of WebMaxed.com. His personal mission is to make internet marketing easy and fun to learn for small business entrepreneurs (trust him, it's possible!). Kevin is a creative entrepreneur who's into meditation, delicious wine and food, traveling, and sweatin' off calories wherever his workout takes him.

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