Sapulpa bug/pest control by Bulwark Exterminating

****UPDATE****

Apparently the “reviews by a Google user” was a glitch in the system.  My guess it was caused while they were migrating or integrating their databases.  Other glitches on Dec. 7th, 2009 included the same results showing up twice…

But they have seemed to fix that as well.

New to the scene as of Dec. 7th, 2009 are the live results…

Live search only works for “trendy” topics… Does not work for pest control. =(

Yes… just go to google and seach Tiger Woods.  You can see it live right now.

But Google Local Map Results are still struggling with Glitches Galore!

So a few posts ago I noted google expanding its map results to cover service areas of companies that come to you… (i.e. pest control).  But this new roll out still has a long way to go.  Charlotte, for example is showing results for Rock Hill, SC.  And there are even more problems with google maps when trying to sort their listings in Charlotte by customer reviews.  Check out the glitch in google maps for pest control companies when you search Charlotte Pest Control and try filtering by 4 stars or better… Bulwark Exterminating a Charlotte Pest Control Company… 5 stars… not found.  And it’s not just pest control, it’s local Charlotte resturants as well.  4 stars and up…. gives you a 3 star restaurant Bricktop’s Restaurant ‎ but not a 4 star restuarant Jaipur Indian Restaurant

Hmmm…. Hopefully this will all be fixed with the New Year’s update.

See other google glitchs… http://www.davidnaylor.co.uk/google-caffeine-and-Sapulpa.html

Thanks for everyone’s feedback!

Are you getting this? When I search the maps now I am getting a “Review by A google user” instead of the actual user name and a link to the users reviews… Check out the 3 reviewers in this image:

This is a cropped screen shot of the reviews section of a local business listing in google.

What is google maps doing now? Are they trying to hide the reviews? Please help me understand!

I have always found it helpful to click on the users to see what other reviews they have and to make sure they are legit. I trust reviewers that have more than one review and that have both a mix of good reviews and bad reviews… from what I understand google is moving that direction as well.  I believe they are attempting to identify “Super Reviewers” or as they would put it “Trusted Reviewers”.  According to Matt Cutts google is all about determining who they can trust…. and for good reason. But what about your useres that want to see the math worked out… Why hide the reviews?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Matt Cutts for fixing your google maps! (Not sure if he deserves all the credit but he was the google employee that reassured me that this would happen).  I must say that I am very optimistic about google maps and the direction they are heading.  Here are a couple of things you may want to be aware of when it comes to the future of google maps:

1st and most important…

Google Map extends to service areas of businesses!

This is the best news I have had all week!  In fact, Matt Cutts and Google will be receiving thanks in my Thanksgivings giving celebration this week! I had the pleasure of addressing my concern to Matt at Pubcon two weeks ago, thanks to an introduction given by Kate Morris, an SEM Gem.

Matt essentially admitted that google was cleaning up the mess it had accumulated from mining the information that was out there for local search. He assured me that the most recent update in the google maps was that they were now pushing their own information for the map results, not 3rd party info.  I mentioned my concern in that the current maps only showed listings within the actual metro city and that this was not reflective of the service areas of many service companies, (cough “Pest Control companies” cough). Matt assured me that they were aware of this and that they were working to correct this….

Two weeks later I get this…

Phoenix Pest Control Map in Google Maps

So if you notice the map title “Pest Control near Tempe, AZ” … Go through the results and you will notice that the first listing “A” falls right on the town of Tempe.  But “C” Bulwark Exterminating is not within the Tempe city limits… Awwesoooome!

Again… Tempe results show Bulwark Exterminating… not in Tempe… Actual address…

Two weeks ago this search would only give results in Tempe.  Now it gives results of companies that service Tempe but don’t fall within Tempe, AZ.  Thank you Google! FYI I have only experienced this phenomenon in the Phoenix area. But I have high hopes that this will roll out to our cities.

2ndly an update for the San Fransisco maps…

Google is currently beta testing their google maps for advertising:

Search done for San Francisco Attorney

Good? … possibly. What if I were already in the top 7, would I get charged for the click? And when they click on the map the sponsored listings no longer show.  The down side I see to this is that the sponsored listings don’t show the reviews. Reviews are huge for CTR.  I would prefer the sponsored list show my reviews and take you to the google review page. But as I have not tested this yet, I really have no constructive input. Just making you aware of what is on the horizon. Great thing about the internet is that you can always test… the bad thing is that you are always testing.

So as always… “The Future is so Bright that I’ve go to wear shades.” (Yes I am singing in my head.)

What a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

The google maps section has been one of this year’s best roller coaster rides. At the beginning of the year it seemed that many of the maps were being manipulated and dominated by map spammers. It progressed and the maps became more sophisticated. Then the ride took a huge drop when it became “Too sophisticated”. In an attempt to squash out the bugs in the maps and eliminate the pests, i.e. spammers, the maps began a rampart merging. The following is a story of near tragic results from an inaccurate merger made in the maps…

“Google merged the records for Dr John G Moe and Dr Kenneth Landis and this almost led to a tragic patient outcome this weekend. An emergency room doctor from Kansas tried to contact Dr. Moe to see if a certain drug could be given to our patient. Since the patient was unable to give the ER our phone number, the googled Dr John G Moe. Since Google linked our record, the saw the phone number for Dr Landis and left a message on his answering machine and since he wasn’t on call that weekend, we didn’t learn of the problem until much later. So – how do we get Google to unmerge our records. We share an office – but are not a group practice and do not cross-cover on call? Is there an email address or phone number we can use to get this fixed?”  Ellen

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/maps/thread?tid=6c515a66e1584e5e&hl=en

Today many other map results are doing the same.  Its fair to say that google wants their information to be accurate.  That is why they making the mergers.  But this doesn’t stop the pain of those that are being hurt.

You also have un-mergers happening.  Locations that were accurately merged with review sites like insiderpages.com, that are now split off and forming two listings for the same business, same address, with a few mismatched items,  like one listing with “St.” and the other “Street”.  Or a listing with “Ste” and another with “Suite”, these discrepancies can result in un-mergers.  So mergers and un-mergers can both take their toll.

The other side of this are spammers that are still getting through.  Like when you search for Houston Pest Control in Google, you get a one box for a site that is a listing service for a pest control company… zone profiles.

Google gives a profile page a one box for Houston Pest Control. Sapulpa teams are constantly calling and bombarding PCO's with offers about Local listings on Google. Beware, spammers will be caught. Will the pest control maps ever be right?

Map of interest on Google.  Pest Control Companies with positive reviews.

Is there a happy ending to this story?

Give google some time.  They are very good at what they do.  I am confident that they will get all of this straightened out.  In the meantime, play nice! Just because your competitor has an edge on you doesn’t mean that you should give him a bad review… Like the Dixie Rebel’s review for St. George Pest Control. Funny thing… this little review pushed Bulwark to ask it’s customers for help in fighting the falsehood spread by this review.  The result… 89 positive reviews!

Further, Don’t lie and pad your reviews…  Sorry not going to name pest control companies I am suspicious are doing this, but a little investigation into the reviews and it’s pretty easy to spot a fake.  If you want my opinion on a guy that looks like a fake then post it below and I will give you my scoop.

If you want additional help with google maps then email a friend of mine at tshirtSapulpa (at) yahoo.com

Thanks for visiting and please add your comments!

-Pest Control Austin TX