Too Bad Google Algorithms Know Best
July 27, 2012
Algorithms do not lie, and Googlers are enduring an unpleasant period of adjustment while trying to convert from Google Places to Google+.
As in the past, major changeovers like this can be a bit buggy, but this bug is eating a hole in the pockets of small business. MediaPost’s article “Problems With Google+ Local Harm Small Businesses” tells us company reviews, ratings and recommendations are mysteriously disappearing, if they show up at all.
Google’s plan was to copy old reviews when businesses migrated from Google Places to Google+ pages, but admits:
“It appears the search engine does not migrate certain reviews that look like spam.”
“The switch from Google Places to Google+ business pages is buggy, broken, and legitimate reviews are lost in processing. This is really unfortunate for local businesses, because building an online reputation can take a long time, and is a tremendously valuable asset to lose. There are a lot of Google business pages that have old reviews on them, which leads me to believe that this is some weird bug or spam filter.”
It looks like small companies are not the only ones suffering because of this pesky problem. Since recommendations, reviews and ratings increase website and page rankings on Google’s organic search results, this glitch has small businesses re-evaluating their AdWord budgets.
Too bad Google, algorithms know best and small businesses are watching the numbers. If this is a bug, Google needs to call an exterminator quick.
Jennifer Shockley, July 27, 2012
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