Google Demanding Businesses to Validate Their Listings – If Not, Removal from Google Maps
Google has contacted some business owners, requiring them to verify their listings within the next three weeks. If they fail to do so, they may soon see their listings removed from Google Maps and Google+ Local. The subject of the e-mail is reportedly titled: “Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places Listing”. It is not confirmed how many businesses have gotten this e-mail or how many will be effected by the new rule.
Google’s Jade Wang stated that these e-mails are not a scam and should be taken seriously. The content of the e-mail reads:
Due to changes on Google Maps, we’d like to inform you that unless you review and confirm the information in your Google Places account, we will no longer be able to keep it and show it to Google users after February 14, 2014.
As a result, on this date your listing “LISTING NAME HERE” may be deleted.
If you wish to keep your listing active, follow these three easy steps:
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Log into your Google Places account
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Review and update your information
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Click the “Submit” button
Sincerely,
The Google Places Team
If you are worried that the e-mail didn’t reach your inbox and went to your junk mail instead, then you can take a few steps to be in the clear. Jade reported on this issue to give people in this situation peace of mind:
“If you didn’t receive this e-mail don’t worry. Please log into Places for Business, take a look at your business information, update it if necessary, and click Submit. You’ll need to do this for all listings in your account by February 21, 2014, so they can stay on Google Maps. Otherwise, you’ll need to add your business information and undergo PIN verification using Google Places again. “