An Update on Tags

[Cross-posted from the Google LatLong Blog]

As users increasingly rely on tools like Google Maps and Places for information about the world around them, we're working hard to develop products that help local businesses highlight themselves and their offerings.

Last year, we introduced our trial for Google Tags, a way for businesses to highlight their organic Google Places listing with a yellow tag that showcases offers, photos, videos, menu, and reservations for a flat monthly fee.

Since that experiment began, tens of thousands of businesses have used Tags to help potential customers make easier, more informed decisions when searching. Throughout this period, we monitored Tags closely to learn more about our users' business needs and how they used the product.

We’ve made a decision to shift our efforts toward other present and future product offerings for local businesses, and will be discontinuing this trial. To that end, we’ve now halted new signups and will be working with existing participating businesses over the coming weeks to help them meet their marketing needs with other Google products where possible.

We’ve learned a lot from our Tags trial and will take that knowledge into account as we continue to find the best ways to serve users and local businesses alike. Lastly, we want to thank all of the businesses that were part of our Tags trial, and we hope we can meet their advertising needs with one of our existing products.

Posted by Shalini Agarwal, Product Manager

Google Tags Feature Paints Rosy Picture for Art Gallery

New York City’s Spanierman Gallery encounters challenges typical of businesses that rely on foot traffic and long-term relationships with clients.

For more than half a century, Spanierman Gallery has dealt in some of the finest works of American art, including works by Georgia O’Keeffe, Winslow Homer and James A.M. Whistler. But because of the abundance of nearby galleries, connecting with a small, discriminating clientele requires continual effort. A strong online presence that helps drive foot traffic to the gallery is essential in today’s art market.

Challenge

Spanierman embraced the Internet early, launching a website in the mid-1990s. For several years, this helped give the gallery an edge, enabling potential clients to easily find it when they searched for artists who had works on display there. That changed as more competitors ventured online.

“As more people embrace the web, we’ve had to step up our game,” says Marketing Director David Spanierman.

For a business that relies on patrons with discretionary income, the sluggish economy has only heightened the need for more visibility. Spanierman knew he needed to do more.

Action

After using Google Places to manage his free business listing on Google.com and Google Maps for two years, Spanierman decided to try Google Tags in July 2010. Adding a distinct yellow marker to his business listing, which calls attention to his gallery amongst a list of similar businesses, made immediate sense. He uses the photo tag to emphasize to potential customers that they can view artwork from the current exhibitions.

Spanierman Gallery’s business listings with a photo tag on Google Maps

“Our goal has always been to help users find what they want,” he says. “The Google Tag helps get our information out to potential customers.”

Results

Since the gallery began using Google Tags, interactions with its business listing have increased nearly 10 percent.

“When you compare the $25 per month for a tag with the amount of money you could spend on other forms of marketing, I think it’s very reasonable,” Spanierman says. “Having that additional avenue enhances the chances that Internet searchers will come and visit you.”

Spanierman sees Google Tags as a wise addition to his marketing mix not only because of its affordability, but also because it enables him to quickly and easily edit his tag to match the gallery’s changing exhibitions.

“When it comes to performance, price and flexibility, Google Tags is the winner,” he says.

Make your listing stand out with Google Tags, try it out now www.google.com/help/tags.

Posted by Bernadette Cay, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Google Places and Tags Holiday Guide

As the holidays approach, we’ve put together five quick and easy ways Google Places can help your business reach customers.

But first things first: claim the Place page for your business on www.google.com/places. This unlocks your ability to take advantage of all of these useful ideas:

• Create a coupon highlighting holiday specials: Are you offering a package of products or services to your customers this holiday season? Let people know by creating a coupon for your special on your Place page. From your Places dashboard, click on the “Coupons” tab and then “Add a new Coupon.” Fill out a few details and watch your coupon go live! You can also give the coupon an expiration date, so it only runs for a set time period. Coupons are also a great way to track how many customers found you through Google Places. For more details on creating a coupon, check out our Help Center.

• Link to a menu of holiday offers and prices: Manage the holiday rush by providing a link to your menu of products and services, or even your reservation page, on your Place page. To add your link, sign in to your Places dashboard, go to your listing and click "Edit." Scroll down to "Additional Details," add a column by typing in the label “Menu,” and then enter the URL of where you host your menu! If your website also handles reservations, then you can link to “Reservations” too. Check out this example and sign in now to add your links.

• Make your business listing stand out with Google Tags: Show customers your holiday offer or menu when they search on Google and Google Maps. Tags are yellow markers that allow business owners to highlight important or unique aspects of their business, such as that coupon you’ve just created, a video, photos and more. To create a tag, go to your Places dashboard and click on “Add a tag.” Simply choose your tag type and let it run. To get you started, we’re giving business owners 30 days free!

• Update your holiday business hours: Are you extending your operating hours on some days to accommodate the holidays? Update the business hours listed on your Place page for the days you’ll be open early or late. This helps local customers, especially last-minute shoppers, who may be interested in visiting your store take advantage of your extended hours.

• Write a post to engage with your customers: Whether you’ll be closed for a certain holiday or open on days when most businesses aren’t, a post is the perfect way to let your customers know. You can also use it to tell people about your latest shipment holiday inventory. Posts are short custom messages of up to 160 characters and appear on your Place page. For more details on writing a post, check out our Help Center. You can also highlight your post with a Google Tag.

Posted by Bernadette Cay, Associate Product Marketing Manager

Signing up for Google Tags is Quick and Easy

We get it: as a local business owner, you’re busy. Really busy. That’s why throughout the development of Google Tags - our online advertising offering available through Google Places - we’ve been acutely aware of the need to create something simple, easy, fast and effective for you and the potential customers looking for you online.

screenshot of a business listing with a coupon tag on Google.com

You may have heard about our recent promotion inviting business owners who are new to Google Tags to take advantage of a free 30-day trial. That trial is still going on, and we’re also excited to announce that we’ve streamlined the sign-up process into three easy steps. Now, it’s even easier to set up the little yellow tag in your business listing and start attracting more local customers for your business!

If you’ve already verified your free business listing in Google Places, sign in to your Google Places dashboard to begin:

1. Click “Add a Tag” from the dashboard


2. Select one of the seven available tag types, and follow the prompts. For example, if you choose a post tag, enter a note about the the unique aspect of your business that you want to highlight in the empty box.


3. Enter your credit card information. If you’ve never tried Google Tags before and are eligible for the free trial, your first month will be free!


Business owners can typically complete the sign-up process in less than five minutes. With that speed, you can get back to all the other tasks that require your attention to keep growing your success!

We’re thrilled that thousands of local businesses have already been using Google Tags to attract and connect with local customers since it became available throughout the U.S. this summer. And if you’re a business owner that hasn’t yet claimed your listing in Google Places, learn more about that simple process, and then follow the same three-step tags process. This new sign-up flow is one the many features we’re working on to make the product even more efficient. As a reminder, Google Tags is usually offered for a $25 flat monthly fee, and does not affect the ranking of the business listings on Google.com or Google Maps. Try it out today!

Posted by Shalini Agarwal, Product Manager