Is Google Putting Your Family Or Home Based Business At Risk

October 31, 2009

If you are a small home based business you may have never heard of Google’s Place Pages. Google Place Pages are part of Google Maps or what Google calls the Local Business Center (LBC.) Recent changes to these pages may be putting you and your family unnecessarily at risk.

Google’s LBC is more commonly known as the Google Maps. It allows local businesses to place a free listing in its maps. These maps are often included with Google’s searches that are local in nature. You don’t even need to have a website to list your business with local maps listings.

However, these listing may place you and your family at risk. When you click on a business that is listed in Google’s maps you are taken to what is called a Place Page. These pages provide more detailed information about a company. These pages also include such things as reviews, direction to your business, and more. Recently, Google has begun including a street view of your businesses location. This is great for a retail location. However, if you run your business from your home it may be placing you and your family at risk if you are using your homes address.

Do you really want a picture of your home in your business listing? That picture will show whatever was in front of your home when a Google van took a picture. That may include your kids, toys, or your personal vehicles. The problem is Google does not seem to offer a business opt out of street views of businesses. I have scoured the Help Forum to no avail. My inquiries have gone unanswered.

Here’s is how I know that you may be at risk if you are using your home address in Local maps. Our business is a home based and when I first listed the business with Google I used my exact home address. When you first sign up with Google’s Local Business Center it sends you a post card. That post card has your pin number for your account verification. That is why I originally used my home address. Then I basically overlooked changing the address.

Then, a few months later I had a business appointment with what turned out to be a very strange man. Since I work out of my home I usually meet clients at a local coffee shop (not Starbucks.) At this meeting I was glad that I was using this coffee shop. This guy really was a very scary character. He is the kind that I would not have ever invited to my home or would want to business with.

During the conversation I mentioned that I meet at coffee shops for safety reasons. The very scary man informed me that he knew where I lived because my address was listed in Google maps. Quickly, I was making a mental note to change my address. I thought that I would never want these man just showing up at my front door. That’s when he told me that he drove to my house. He said “I pulled up in front of your house, and then I decided that it was not a good idea, I left and called instead.” Yea, I thought.

This was an almost mess in your pants moment for me. This guy was huge, disheveled, and he appeared to be a ticking time bomb to me. He claimed to have the next greatest idea that would put Google out of business and he wanted to run his business proposal by me. I had time on my hands and that it wouldn’t hurt to give this guy an hour of my time. I thought what if… Well, his proposal had already been duplicated thousands of times over and his was being poorly executed.

He thought so much of his great idea that he had me sign a non-disclosure agreement. Eventually he showed me his website and did his presentation. Then he tries to close me. He was looking for financial partners. I went to great lengths to explain why I thought that his business model would not work. I further explained that even if he could make it work that the site would need to be professionally built and he would need huge amounts of money to promote it.

What he was trying to accomplish was to be a cross between Craigslist and YouTube. However, his business model was built upon selling classifieds ads which are free all over the internet. I very carefully explained that I wanted nothing to do with his business concept. I further explained that I thought that he would likely fail. I thought the guy was going to pounce on me and perhaps do great bodily harm to me. Yes, the guy was that scary. He informed me that I was the only person who ever told him no. This guy was huge and I could understand why someone would want to shine him on.

Now, I had to be as gracious as possible because this guy knows where I live. The first thing that I did upon arriving home was to change my business address in Google’s Local Business Center. I made up a number but used the same street address. I hoped and prayed that this guy would not go off someday and come looking for me.

I got a second reality check when I recently checked my Local Business Center listing a few days ago. That’s when I discovered Google was now placing a street view picture of the address that I supplied with our LBC listing on our place page. It was not a very big deal for me as it was not my residence that Google was showing because I changed my address, but it could have been. It truly can be a crazy world out there on the internet we must be careful, especially if you have a home based business and a family.

If you are a home based business do you really want a picture of your home in your Google local listing? Depending when Google took a photo of your home it may also include you, your family members, or your personal vehicles. I have not been able to find out where or how to remove this picture. In fact, I can’t get any answers from Google about its local maps. They offer a help forum but this has been of very little help. If I find a solution I will let you all know. I have made an inquiry today, but none of my other inquiries have been answered by A Google employee. That inquiry was made three days ago. I held off posting then until I gave Google an opportunity to respond but they have not.

There is a lot of frustration with the lack of customer support with Google in general and more specifically in the Local Business Center department. I have been trying to get an answer for why a clients listing was flagged for several weeks now. Google is Beta testing a new ad program associated with its Local Maps and doesn’t seem to be offering any customer support at this time. Those of us who are regularly involved with Local SEO and Local Maps have never been thrilled with the support, or the lack thereof, that Google offers.

I would suggest that you seriously consider changing your address if you have been using your home address. Do you really want photo of your home appearing in your business listing? I know I have one really huge reason not to have my home appearing! I can only hope that others notice this and start asking Google to change this and allow home based businesses to opt out pf having pictures of their homes appearing in its local maps. Now, you will need to check your businesses place page to see if your home is appearing on this page. I checked some listing of other home based businesses that I know off. About two thirds of the listing that I checked has a street view photo in their listing. While yours may not have a street view now, it likely will in the near future.

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