Google Places has
now been merged with a new option in Google+ called Google+ Local
In typical Google fashion they didn’t notify anyone and they
just did it and merged all the data from your Google Places listing into the
new Google+ Local. (Well almost all of
it)
Here is a list of the changes:
- You now need a Google+ account to add reviews
- Business owners will have to (at least at this time) reclaim their page
- Reviews that were posted earlier will have “A Google User” listed until the user who posted the review, changes their privacy settings in Google+
- Zagat reviews will be incorporated into reviews when available (Google now owns Zagat)
- Use will be on a 4 point system:
- 3 Excellent
- 2 Very Good
- 1 Good
- 0 Poor to Fair
- The new ratings will be multiplied by 10 to more closely match the Zagat reviews
- You can make reservations using OpenTable right from Google+ Local
- You will be able to add photos of a place to share with other users in a public folder
- Local Searches will be affected by your reviews, check-Ins, and your friends in Google+ (Yes Big-Brother Google is watching what you do!)
- Top reviews will also affect your search results
All of this is in a new format that is reminiscent of Facebook Fan Pages (in a mirror image). Google also states that more changes will be
forthcoming so hold on to your hats for the next couple of weeks, it’s going to
be a bumpy ride.
Here are some examples of early adopters of the new Google+
Local format:
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