Google Local or Google Places recently announced that P.O. Boxes would be disallowed for use in matching your location on a Google Local map.
I loudly predicted about 6 years ago that this loophole would be closed by Google Local eventually. Sad really because it’s going to hurt a lot of small operators. To fix, select a location address with a service that provides conference room space for rent and that accepts incoming mail deliveries. This physical address will be recognized by Google.
Why did Google do this? A release stated that: Google Places is meant to facilitate customer interaction with brick-and-mortar businesses and service providers. Therefore, the business owner or employee who is officially authorized to represent their particular business location must have a physical address in order to comply with our quality guideline. P.O. Boxes are not considered accurate physical locations. Listings submitted with P.O. Box addresses will be removed.
My own view is that scammers, who have been actively grabbing up mass amounts of Google Local listings were able to direct a significant amount of traffic from real local operators to larger call-center operations (legit and otherwise).
A fascinating example of social networking, Facebook beckons every business to its doorstep at one point or another. Commission Explosion is putting its money where its mouth is by establishing a Facebook Fan Page of their own on Facebook. Join with us as we experience the phenomenon that is Facebook by clicking here to “Fan Page Us”.
Blogging for pay, either for a product or service is pretty common. In order to stamp down on an industry that quickly was becoming a wild west the FTC has said disclosure must be clear whenever there is a direct relationship between the author and the blogger, especially if the relationship involves the payment of a fee or the providing the item as a gift to the blogger in exchange for a review.
As a blogger, using a pay-per-post network like Social Spark can help guide you to adhere or establish proper disclosure practices, and to receive guaranteed revenues for writing about their advertisers products or services.
SocialSpark has set a new bar for disclosure and transparency in the affiliate space. They’re currently the only affiliate marketplace that requires 100% audit-able in-post disclosure as a condition of payment and each sponsored post must be done in accordance with the SocialSpark code of ethics.
Of course the writer is never directed to make their reviews positive only. They encourage that the writer be honest and direct in their reviews.
Check out more about SocialSpark pay-per-post program by clicking here.
