Googleโs overdue purge of unverified listings from the โMy Business Listingsโ area will begin on July 28th. Google has chosen to designate pages that are unclaimed or collecting virtual dust to be systematically cleaned up. Some have speculated that this is the result of Google consciously distancing Google Local from their fizzling Google+ division. Given the companyโs recent venture to disable Google+ and YouTube integration, this conclusion is not so farfetched.
It is essential for business owners to reclaim their dormant pages. Once Google has swept their listings area, the abandoned pages will no longer be viewable on G+ Local pages. The listings, however, will continue to reappear in search and map engines. Business owners who wish to retain their pages are strongly advised to login with the user accounts associated with their respective listing and verify.
Take full advantage
A business should seriously consider utilizing Googleโs โMy Businessโ service to its advantage. The pages foster direction connections with clients through an array of Google-mediated channels that currently include search, maps, and Google+.
An official email distributed by Google outlined the cleanup process and motivation in detail:
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 Googleโs ongoing effort to simplify peopleโs experience with our tools. We are constantly working to provide only valuable and rich content to our users.
On July 28, Google will begin shutting down 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.
Clutter be gone
The removal of the ignored pages is understandable, as a periodic deep cleaning of Google pages is essential in order to reduce the siteโs overall clutter. On the other hand, mismanaged business pages consistently provide models of poor SEO models for marketers and allow us to learn from the mistakes of others. In fact, some users have vented their frustration that this actually โmakes
What does this mean for Google+? The inability to reach Plus from Maps, and a removal of Local search from Plus and a Plus Page link from search results that are not verified could spell a grim fate for the service.
