Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Google Local Carousel Now Visible in Japan

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST

The (not very well liked) Local Carousel is now visible in Japan on Google.com although not yet on Google.co.jp/. Kenichi Suzuki, a popular Japanese blogger interested in local search, reports that while he is not sure when it started showing, it is now showing.

Since being rolled out last June they have only been visible in the US. While US based searchers can see the carousel on searches for local information abroad, those searching from outside the US have not seen them until now.

And despite my unique experience last week of not seeing the Local Caroisel for a short while, that has remained the case. The fact that they are rolling out to another country would imply that they are not going away any time soon. But who knows…

I asked Kenichi why it was not visible on .co.jp and noted: But it’s not rare we see certain features available only in .com, sometimes for a while. Say, Authorship program in co.jp was behind a several month later than .com.?

Reviews, SMBs & Google – Still Not Clear on the Concept

Posted: 20 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

This story is so rich in the evolving complexity of reviews; the absurdly angry SMB, the frustrated poster and so rich a tale of service gone awry. A story of how decent service can become indecent service by the sort of reflexive behavior that is so common in the service industry. To say nothing of Google still not getting their review algo right and how that impacts their image in the market place.

This comment was just posted on an old post about Google removing reviews and I wanted to highlight it. I have not verified the story but it rang true.

I’ve noticed my review was removed, and I’d really like to know why.

This was my review of a local tree service I had used:

“Good, but not great. The price was very good; much less than the competition. They removed a maple in my backyard for $475; the cheapest quote from others was $700, but price isn't everything.

They did the job while I was at work, removed the tree, and left what looked like a large mound of wood chips and top soil (grindings), but when I dug through the grindings I discovered that only half of the root stock had been removed (the tree had a large amount of roots above ground and Rich had guaranteed a complete removal of them).

They had left a huge 4 ft circular ring of root stock, most of it was a foot above grade (above ground level), and some of the roots where 3-5inches in diameter. I called Rich on his cell, he sounded surprised that I had dug out the grindings ("you dug it up?"), he explained that usually he does the final grinding himself, but this time he left two new guys to do the final grinding. After almost 2 weeks and 3 calls from me, Rich sent his guys to finish the job.

If they had finished the job right the first time I would have given them a perfect score, because their price is very reasonable and all I wanted was the tree removed. If you are planning on using them I would definitely recommend being there while the work is done, or at the very least inspect the work before they leave. During the almost 2 weeks that I waited for them to return and finish the job there were 7 days with nice weather (no rain & not too cold), but obviously I was no longer a priority.”

I felt the review was more than fair (I gave 3 stars & he deserved much less). People really needed to be warned about this company.

After my review the owner “Rich” of the tree service called me repeatably leaving obscene & threatening messages. Demanding I remove the above review. When I didn’t respond, he then came to my house pounding the door & screaming obscenities. I had to have the police remove him from my property.

I have the officer’s name & case number of the indecent. If I had included this information in my review would that have made it more acceptable? I assume he was able to get you to remove the review which I feel is shame after I went through to have it posted.

Any advice, or insight into this situation? Thanks.

What would you say to the poster? To the SMB? To Google?

Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

Understanding Google Maps & Local Search

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