Search Google Maps by Lat/Long

Did you know that you can search Google Maps by using Latitude and Longitude?
Well, you can. Positive latitude numbers are North. Negative are South. Positive longitude numbers are East. Negative are West. Enter values in decimal equivalent of deg, min, sec. Cool beans!

So Sydney, Australia is -33.866603,151.207108









And San Francisco becomes 37.833649,-122.420654.

How do I get my business listed on Google Maps?

My business isn't listed on Google Maps. Why not? or... The information listed on my business on Google Maps is wrong. How do I fix it?

This must be one of the most common questions asked by business owners. Here are some answers!

1. Take charge of your listing. Take ownership of what Google Maps displays. Go to the Google Local Business Center and register your business. Verification is required. Use the telephone verification method, if it is available. (Google will show you a PIN on the PC, then they'll call your number, and you enter the PIN. Takes 20 sec.). This is by far the easiest method. It's free, and you do not have to buy Google Ads. AND it will overwrite whatever Google Maps is currently showing. If it's a new business, you'll see the changes right away. If it's an update to an existing business, that can take 3-4 weeks.



2. On the "more info" page, at the bottom is a link that says "Business Owners: Add/Edit Your Business" and a link to the LBC above. Most people don't know this link is here, probably because it is often below the fold on the page. Google really should make this link more prominent.
3. Finally, if you still can't get your business corrected. Leave me a comment, and I'll try to help. I bet you won't find that statement on any other Google Maps blog!

Here's what does not work...sending an email flame to Google, writing a nasty letter to Larry Page, or having your attorney threaten to sue Google. Google Maps gets its data from public sources such as web pages and other public data sources, i.e. 411 service. If you really have a problem with your 411 listing, it's not Google's fault. Call the 411 service.

New Neighborhood Search Capability

Google Maps has recently rolled-out the ability to search across neighborhoods and states.

You can now do searches such as bagels upper west side ny and ikea california on Google Maps. This is very cool because it allows you to do city-level searches where the city is uniquely named, regardless of size, such as bakery round rock or creameries brenham.

Check it out!

LOTS OF NEW GOOGLE MAPS!

Google Maps has rolled out a lot of new maps. Check these out.

Taiwan:








Thailand:








Slovenia and Croatia:








Turkey:









It also appears there are new street level data for Estonia and Lithuania.

Here's Vilnius








Here's Tallinn:

Improved home pages for business listings

The latest release of maps.google.com has greatly improved home web pages for local business listings. Previously, there were a lot of errors. For example, my son attends the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Previously, the website listed for UCF was the University of Toronto!

Now it's correct: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=university+of+central+florida&near=orlando+fl&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=11&ll=28.651428,-81.377106&spn=0.284412,0.63858&om=1&iwloc=A

Google appears to have significantly improved their ability to find the right web site for a local business listing. I have yet to find one that is blatantly wrong.

One small step for better business listings.