Google Places Changes the Rules on Listings

Just in case you were getting comfortable with the rules of the game, Google has changed the rules at Google Places, AGAIN.  Probably the most important had to do with how to use or not use descriptions and categories.  I could just repeat everything that another SEM Guru already said.  Better to just send you to her for a great analysis.

Key ideas:

• You can now use your business name, city, or category info in your description, unlike the last version of the rules.
•  Categories need to be who you are, not what you do.  What does this mean???  See the blog post noted above
• A new emphasis on no geographic or Brand info in categories.

Creating the description and selecting categories are very, very critical operations.  Not abiding by the rules can result in getting suspended, delisted or just ending up with no visibility through page 10.  Not being careful enough to do the full marketing analysis necessary to wisely choose categories could mean that you have great visibility under keywords that nobody ever looks up, but no visibility on your most important key words.