Google Announces Google Local Business Center

Google has announced the Google Local Business Center, which is a tool for businesses to add or update their listings in Google Local. I was wondering when/if they'd offer something like this. You can get to it at http://www.google.com/local/add .

The page asks you to fill in the address of your business. Once you do so, Google tries to find your business listing and presents you with any matches it can find. Confirm a match and Google will give you an option to either edit or suspend that listing. Editing the listing consists of providing additional information about the business, including hours, payment types accepted, and a 200-character description of the business. Once you've filled out that information you can also fill out categories related to your business. (Google will search the categories you specify and present you with a list of their categories. You can choose up to five of them.)

Once you have done all this Google presents you with all your site's information and from there you can either go back and change your information or submit it.

... of course it's not going to do this without some kind of validation. After you've submitted your listing Google will send you a letter within two weeks with a PIN and activation instructions for making your edits "live" on Google Local. Your listing won't be included on the site until this process is gone through.

I'm excited that Google is offering something like this, though the logistics make my mind boggle. Now to find out how fast the word gets out and how many people take advantage of editing their listings like this. I certainly would love to be able to get the hours for a place without having to track down their Web site or call.

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