I'm seeing a lot of private residences listed as business. It's my understanding that these should not be on Maps as you can't actually go there to do business.
Hi @GaryFunk if the private residence has a business within that people can go to and undertake a service or buy things then it gets the category that best suits it. If there is no business there then suggest an Edit and mark the place as permanently closed with the reason private residence. People's houses do not belong on Maps.
Yes. I totally agree that one's own residence can't be a business place. This happens in India too. I w'd also like to know the rules and regulations for this from google . I appreciate that this point is raised in this forum. Thanks for raising it. Shiva.
I think you are wrong when you say that a private residence cannot be a business location. However, that by itself is not relevant. The question to ask, as @GaryFunk, just did, is are certain businesses suppose to be on our map?
One of the official rules is that a business is only mappable if it has a physical presence that is visited by its customers. So for example, a person running a business from home that does sales via the phone or internet and does not receive customers on site, is not mappable with a POI. Plumbers or electricians, for example, that are based at home, but visit their customers to do the work in different locations, are called Service Area Businesses. These type of businesses can be added by the owner on Google My Business and will show up in search on Maps if you look for a plumber in your area. However, unless they have a shop or office where people go to, they have no POI on Maps.
@GaryFunk is correct that there is a lot of abuse on Maps, where businesses use the addresses of their staff members as business locations on Maps to improve their SEO and increase their free advertising. Companies also pay for virtual addresses and rent phone-lines across the country, to pretend they have offices/ branches in all these places to attract customers. If you come across such listings, you need to decide which method to use to remove them. Should you tag them as SPAM, Private or Never Existed or should you report it via feedback? My personal experience is that it depends on the case.
The official Google Guidelines on eligible businesses on Maps can be found here. This is written from a Google My Business perspective and not as clear as the old Map Maker guidelines that can be found here.
It is also important to know that many home-based businesses are incorrectly added by Google themselves! I know from experience that Google uses reliable sources to get databases of businesses. For example the Netherlands, there is a Company Registration office where all business traders must register. Google has used the data of this office and the Netherlands was covered with businesses on Maps that are in fact private addresses of free-lancers and "empty" holding companies. These listings are often easily recognized as they often have no category attached to them and are not claimed businesses. They should all be removed if they have no physical presence as described in the guidelines.
@GenerolHavoc I totally agree with you that if you are in doubt, one should not remove things from the Map. For example, in the Netherlands farms are also places where people live. However, most of them are registered as a business and many of them, do belong on the Map. Even standing in front of their gate, most of the time, I cannot tell if their business is eligible for Maps, so I leave them alone.
The way Google now handles Service Area Businesses has recently changed. So please be aware that the Map Maker file on this topic is somewhat outdated.
2022
