Who's Changing Your Shop's Google Map?

[CHR]

Q: Who's Changing Your Flower Shop's data on Google Maps?

A: Could be anybody as long as he/she has a Google Account.

According to article by Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land:

Registered Google users are now permitted to adjust the place markers for businesses on Google Maps and soon will have the ability to more broadly edit local business information.

Danny provides a 'how-to' in the post.

Arguably, Maps is Google's most successful product outside its core search engine. The company has certainly committed the resources to making it an increasingly rich user experience (e.g., StreetView) . However, all the "bells & whistles" don't mean as much if the base data are inaccurate or incomplete; hence, the new edit feature.

For more about the new feature, see Google's blog post that's now live, as well as the new dedicated help area, FAQ page, and advice for business owners (including links on how to claim your listing). The new feature currently only works within the US, Australia and New Zealand versions of Google Maps but will roll out to other versions in the near future. See also discussion on Techmeme.

Let's hope they do a better job at policing the black hats than Yahoo does.

If you haven't yet claimed your own shop's listing, time to make that a big priority.