Google: Inactive Local Business Listings will need re-verification

In a warning to Google My Business users, Google has said businesses that haven’t logged in to their account for some time may have to repeat the verification process for their listings.

The announcement from Google’s Jade Wang, posted in the Google and Your Business Help Forum, says that the company will also attempt to contact a Google My Business user who is presumed inactive by email before un-verifying pages in the account.

Why should you care?

While Google has taken steps to improve the verification process for local business listings, the process has been problematic for some (and not one they want to repeat).

Wang’s advice? She advises monitoring the email inbox associated with your Google My Business account, and regularly logging in to confirm your information is current and accurate.

There is a silver lining, though. If you have had trouble taking back ownership of listings that have previously been verified (perhaps by a former employee), this should make it easier to do so.

Other recent search marketing news:

• Google advocating AdWords advertising ahead of SEO
  It’s not surprising Google has this view, given we reckon Google makes around $1M a day in New Zealand from AdWords
• This could take your website offline & kill sales
  If your website is using Google’s PageSpeed Service you MUST take action. Otherwise your website traffic will disappear overnight on 3 Aug!
• Google says Panda 4.2 update coming this month
  After an eight month hiatus, a new Panda update due this month will re-evaluate content quality.

Other search marketing news this week:

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