Google Maps and Business Listings. How wrong can Google get it?
A couple of months ago I wrote a post about how Google broke the local business listings that show up on Google Maps. I surmised they did this to push searchers to more profitable links, like their Adwords Sponsored PPC links. They didn’t come up with this brilliant idea themselves. They copied Bing, which launched with atrocious local business lisitngs in their results and drove people to paid AT&T Internet Yellow page ads. It’s all about money.
Today I needed to find a local office supply store in Pleasanton. I know about Office Max and Office Depot, but thought there might be a place a little closer. So I searched Google for “office supplies pleasanton.” Here’s what I got:
Besides listing OfficeMax twice, missing Staples and listing a strange closed business named “Vanguard Legato,” Google lists the name of an individual as its third result. Clicking on the details, let me know that this indeed was an individual, categorized under “office supply store.”
My first thought was, “that is pretty lame.” And it is. My second thought was wondering if any people searching for office supplies have ever shown up at this guy’s house.
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