Google Helping Business Discovery With 'Places'
For small businesses, search engines represent a colossal opportunity, but elevating the company's profile to ensure it doesn't get buried underneath all the clutter can be a challenge.
With the release of its Places suite of search services, Google is attempting to address the issues. Now, businesses can append more detailed location data and other information to their online listings to more effectively promote their services in specific areas.
Small Business Computing has the details on the new Google Places service.
Can your company be found on Google? Of course it can: Google's massive search index should, eventually, be able find any business that is mentioned online -- even if the business doesn't have its own Web site but is at least noted or reviewed by third parties.
But how easily can your business be found on Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and how useful is the information it presents? Those are two more important questions that Google is helping to answer.
Google's existing Local Business Center service has been tailored to help businesses, particularly small businesses, register a profile that lets them better surface their key information (such as location, hours of operation, directions and coupons) in search results. Now Google has merged and rebranded its Local Business Center under its Places umbrella of services, while also adding new features.