Business owners have reported on the Google Business Help forums that they are getting emails from Google with the subject line: “Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places Listing.” This information was first reported by Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable.
The body of the email reads as follows:
Hello,
Due to changes in Google Maps, we’d like to inform you that unless you review and confirm the information in your Google Places account, we will no longer be able to keep and show it to Google users after February 21, 2014.If you wish to keep your listing active, follow these three easy steps:
1. Log in to your Google Places account
2. Review and update your information
3. Click the “Submit” buttonSincerely,
The Google Places Team
Jade Wang, Google Business Community Manager, has confirmed that this is a legitimate email Google is sending out saying Google is making some changes to Google Places for Business and Google Maps. Part of these changes involve asking business owners to review and confirm some of the information in their Google Places accounts. Jade also apologizes for any inconvenience this causes.
If you have a Google Places listing but did not receive this email, it doesn’t necessarily mean you weren’t affected. The email may have been automatically trashed by the spam filter of your inbox, so you may want to manually check to make sure so you can avoid your Places listing becoming de-listed.
In order to manually check, just log into Places for Business and take a look at your business information. Go through it and update it if necessary, then click “Submit.” You’ll need to do this for all listings in your account by February 21, 2014, to ensure they remain on Google Maps. If you don’t, you’ll need to add your business information and undergo the tedious PIN verification using Google Places all over again.
Editor’s Note: This post has been amended to include the source of the first report.
