Google Places helps people connect with businesses in their local area, and enables business owners to manage their online presence. Over four million businesses have already claimed their business listing through Google's Local Business Center, which enables them to verify that the correct information is listed for their business, and they can also provide special offers to attract new customers.
Several new features have been recently added, such as: Service Areas, New Simple Ways to Advertise, Business Photo Shoots, Favorite Places, and Customized QR Codes (a special barcode just for your business that makes it easy for people to connect with your listing from their mobile phone).
Overall, it looks like Google Places is a definite improvement over what the former Local Business Center provided. So if you're not already listed, you should get listed. And if you are already listed, check out the new features provided by Places.
Get all the details here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/introducing-google-places.html
More about QR codes...
A QR code is a unique bar code format that works with a variety of mobile phones and other scanning devices. Google uses this with Google Places (see the lower right of the example sticker below) to let customers or potential customers instantly learn more about your business by visiting a special mobile version of your listing in Google Places using any supported mobile phone. Here's more on how it works and what you can do with it:
- Make sure your phone can scan a QR code using its camera, either with a mobile application that you download or via software that's already installed on your phone. To find out what application to use for your phone, just do a Google search for your phone's model along with the term "QR reader".
- When you see a QR code, you can use your phone's application to scan it. If you're scanning a QR code on one of the window decals that Google has already sent out to thousands of U.S. businesses who previously registered with Google Local Business Directory, you'll quickly be taken to the mobile Place Page on Google for that specific business, where you can:
- Read reviews to see what other users think about the business
- Find a coupon that the business has posted to their Place Page
- Star the business to remember to check it out later, or to remember to visit again
- Leave a review right after you leave the business. What's a better time to write what you think, than when you've just visited?
