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Is Google Cleaning Up Its Local Act?

The view of Google’s local 10-pack for locksmiths nyc today is very different than it was last week here’s what it looks like today:

These guys even look truly local, as in you can go to the street view and find buildings with signs for their shops on them.  And they aren’t of the ilk who have 11,000 plus listings or even 1,100 plus listings.

All of that looked pretty positive and I thought that given the hammering that Google has been getting  in blogs from security to   local search experts they might actually be doing something different.  Then I looked at another city on the other side of the country and it turns out to be a fluke.  It’s impossible to say if Google is testing something with the NYC listings,  manually cleaned those up because of so much focus on that city or…. There are dozens of possible reasons for the results, but based on Portland’s 10-pack today one thing is sure, they’ve made no sweeping changes to clean up the problem.  And Davis Lock and Safe has fallen victim  to the spammers with a hijacked listing.   If you call the number in the 10-pack you get the spam company if you call the number on their Website 503-766-3814 you get a very pleasant employee.

Call most of these Portland listings and you’ll here one of the same three answers you hear across the country when you dial up a locksmith “Service” “Locksmith” “You’ve reached the mobile emergency line.”   When I called the one for DavisLocks.com as its listed in the local listings the guy had no idea where Beaverton (Davis is in Beaverton) was.  What was clear was that he had no connection to Davis but could based on a zip code send a locksmith out if I needed one.  Luckily I didn’t.  I then called the number off their Website and that’s when I spoke to the real company.

Portlanders beware.

Google, you have not solve the problem as you claim

Categories: Local Search Tags: google local, google maps, local 10-pack, Local Search, spam