Comments on: Support Local Businesses with Google Maps

By: Andrew Flusche

Andrew Flusche — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:08:50 +0000

@shobbs – It’s definitely true that the paper yellow pages still get used, but I’m sure you guys have seen a downturn in the industry. My point is that consumers don’t need to pull out a yellow pages book to find small businesses. And businesses have many ways of advertising these days, where the YP might not be the best choice.

By: shobbs

shobbs — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:58:15 +0000

FYI, last year U.S. consumers used the printed YP 13.4 billion times, small businesses still rely on them for ready to buy customers (it has a great ROI). And much of the content you find on a Google search for local businesses is provided by online YP publishers (SuperPages.com, YellowPages.com, etc.) so you may be using the YP without knowing it. Full disclosure, I’m the VP of Communications at the Yellow Pages Association.

By: Yellow Pages - a thing of the past | Texas Blue Lime Productions

Yellow Pages - a thing of the past | Texas Blue Lime Productions — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:02:21 +0000

[...] From Legal Andrew [...]

By: JBourne

JBourne — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:31:29 +0000

You can also help the business out by linking to reviews of it on other sites. Last I checked, Google let you add links involving to the maps listing. Helps a lot because positive reviews from popular and reputable sources are better than the from the average joe.

By: Andrew Flusche

Andrew Flusche — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:55:39 +0000

@Ryan – I’m sorry for my typical American short-sightedness. I forget that not all services work the same around the globe. We’ll all hope that you get better Google Maps features soon!

@Eric – Recycling bins. That’s what we need!

By: Eric S. Mueller

Eric S. Mueller — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:14:41 +0000

I haven’t used the yellow pages in years. When they show up on my walk, my wife puts them right in the recycle bin. We’ve been using Google to find local phone numbers for years.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:59:26 +0000

Hey Andrew

I love Google maps and cant wait to be able to add businesses or create mashups etc but I live in South Africa and Google maps sucks here. There is not much detail except within major city centres and that is only a small part.

I have emailed Google on this and they replied saying that it will happen but when is unknown.

So until then…