Google Place Goes Grey on Places Marker - Other Major Changes Says Randy Kirk - Google Places Expert

Nov. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- There is something new that you can be sure of.  Add to death and taxes.....Continuous change on Google Places.  As Google Places ups the ante in its white hot competition with Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, and YellowPages, many business owners already know who's way out in front.  If the phone stops ringing, it's probably because the Google Places ranking has slipped.

When there is a change at Google Places, the guy who can explain it in English is Randy Kirk of Randy Kirk & Associates.  His blogs and videos are seen at the top of almost every search on Google Places.  "This is one of the biggest changes in the look and function of Google Places ever.  I have been saying for over a year that the biggest unanswered question on Google Places was why wasn't Google making the information as useful and easy to find as possible.  They still could do a lot better, but this is a big step forward."

The first thing anyone will notice is that the place markers are grey instead of red.  Since Google has used the red place marker as their icon, one wonders why the change to grey.
Kirk says:  "No one knows the mind of Google, but the red is definitely known to pull the eye.  They may have not wanted those red place markers to be the first place folks looked.  In any case, the new version has the grey place marker turning red when you run your cursor anywhere around the listing.  This is a great way to give the searcher cues on his activity."

There are tons of other changes and some are much better explained by video.  Kirk has compiled a short video that shows the various changes.  You can find that video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaqjNoDT2Ag



Kirk concludes:  "More changes are coming, plus Yelp and the others will now respond to the changes at Google Places.  It is a never ending battle.  But make no mistake.  The small business that doesn't claim, optimize and protect his Google Places Listing is putting his business at a competitive disadvantage."

You can reach Randy Kirk for more about the changes and how he can help you

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The New Yellow Pages for Local Business is optimizing website visibility through Google Places, websites, YouTube, LSE's, Forums, and Social Media. Traditional marketing, too. Small businesses are trying to keep up with all of this on their own in many cases. The truth is that just keeping up with Google Places is almost a full-time job.

Randy Kirk created www.GooglePlacesHelp.blogspot.com as a resource for folks to try and do it on their own. However, to find out how inexpensive it is to get professional help, call 310-910-1848 or email RandyKirk77@gmail.com