Google Is Doing Some House Cleaning with Google + pages
Less than three years ago, back in 2012, Google had an idea to enhance a business’ presence in local searches with the creation of Google+ and Google+ Pages for business. Many die-hard Google product users quickly put two and two together and anticipated the day when the search engine giant would decide to merge the new Google+ and Google+ Pages for business with the older Google Places and Google+ Pages. They didn’t have to wait very long and when it did occur, the phrase “the center of gravity for local search” was born with regards to speaking about Google +.
Well, with Google’s latest announcement late July, Google + might be getting the kibosh.
What’s this mean for you?
On a cleanup that started July, 28th, Google has “unverified” inactive Google + local pages. So if you have business pages in which you have never claimed after prompting by Google during page setup. Or, if your pages receive no activity and are dormant or unresponsive, those pages identified have now been unverified. If your page is one of the millions that has been unverified, the page is still there, but pages that have been labeled this way, are frowned upon by Google and will struggle to rank high. On the other hand, pages that have been verified, are seen in a much better light by Google, and have a chance of getting ranked higher.
There are millions of these unclaimed pages, and a huge “cleanup” was long overdue according to some. Mike Blumenthal, a technology blogger, took this cleanup and the potential meaning behind it one step further. He stated that he believed this is “a final step in separating local from plus.” The consensus also agrees that the move appears to be part of something much larger, including a move away from Google+.
The powers that may at Google, have spoken on the topic and there is an email that is all over the internet that attempts to explain things clearer:
In the past few months, you may have seen some changes in the look of Google+ pages that have been associated with Google My Business (GMB) accounts. These changes, including how we treat business pages without owners, are part of Google’s ongoing effort to simplify people’s experience with our tools. We are constantly working to provide only valuable and rich content to our users.
On July 28, Google began unverifying those GMB-associated Google+ pages that have not been associated with user accounts and are also not verified. You may find that some of your Business View tours also sit on such pages, but note that after this removal of unverified Google+ pages, the Business View tours will still remain available on Google Maps and Google Search.
What if my business page is gone? Can I get that same one back?
Unfortunately, it does not appear that way. If business owners are just now checking to see if their page is still there, it is already too late. Google is encouraging people that if they love the idea of having a Google My Business Page, the best option is going to be to create another. However, you are in luck and won’t have to start from scratch everywhere. Your business view virtual tour is fully transferable to the new page, in which, you still must verify when prompted to do so. If you are having any trouble with this process or even trying to get old images back, Google asks that you contact their support team as in most cases, they will be able to get images back.
If you are unable to get through to Google on this topic or need helping creating a new and more professional looking business page, contact us here at Skol Marketing, as we are Google certified professionals who can help.
