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Local advertisers can now display places ratings in their AdWords ads

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In a world where we’re increasingly reliant on our phones to navigate the world, online reviews can make or break local businesses. Lawsuits regarding negative reviews show up in the news at least a couple times every year, and these review pages are increasingly becoming the battleground where individuals protest against businesses partaking in practices they disagree with. On the other hand, however, a good rating online can entrench and create a moat around a business for years to come. That’s why Google now allows advertisers to include their Google reviews in their AdWords ads.
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Google Places for Business gets interface update and improved integration

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Google refreshed Google Places for Business last night with a new look and feel.

The streamlined interface now makes it easier for businesses to update their information, and a helpful widget will even outline what they should do to fully complete profiles.

Profile edits will also now appear across all of Google’s products, like Google Maps, within 48 hours, but the improved integration doesn’t stop there. The official Google and Your Business blog has the story:

Through this upgraded interface, you will be able to access your local Google+ page to take advantage of social features like sharing photos, videos, or posts. For businesses who also use AdWords Express and Google Offers, managing your ads and promotions is easier than ever. You can check results and make edits directly from your upgraded Places for Business dashboard.


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Google and Kia Motors announce deal to bring Google Maps & Places to new vehicles

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Kia Motors is working with Google to bring Google Maps and Google Places integration to new vehicles via an updated version of its UVO eServices telematics system. Kia said in a press release today that it would work with Google to integrate Maps and Services for “driving directions and locate Points of Interest (POIs) in a seamless and organic manner.” The new integration will land in the 2014 Sorento CUV and go on sale in the first half of this year, but it will presumably hit all-new vehicles that utilize Kia’s built-in UVO eServices. Kia will also provide Maps and Places features from its UVO smartphone app:

Available with the 2014 Sorento CUV, the new Google-powered UVO system will serve Kia owners whether they are in their cars or away from them. Enabled by the Send2Car feature, Kia owners can send a POI or destination to their car directly from the Google Maps via their SmartphoneUVO app. From within the car, Kia owners will benefit from Google Places, which will provide POI and destination resources such as a dealership location, and Google Maps, which will provide directions to virtually anywhere and everywhere a car can travel.
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What’s new in Google Maps? Google posts full I/O session [Video]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0K805PeOfI&feature=player_embedded]

The video above is the full Google I/O 2012 session on “What’s New in Google Maps” with Googlers Brian McClendon, Dylan Lorimer, and Thor Mitchell. We already saw much of what is talked about at Google’s “Next Dimension of Google Maps” event earlier this month, but the full talk focuses mainly on improvements to the Google Places API.

Google Places covers tens of millions of place locations around the world. But what’s a place? A place is anything that answers the question “Where are you?” Restaurants, shops, landmarks, events, and much more. You can use it in the browser, from a server, or from a mobile device. This talk will show you how to get started with the Google Places API, and focus on how you can use this huge datastore in your mobile application.

For all I/O 2012 sessions, go to https://developers.google.com/io/

Google Maps updated with ‘My Places’ tab

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Google has updated Google Maps for Android to version 5.8, which sheds focus on Places. Users can now upload pictures of Places and add new Places that aren’t yet listed. Most interestingly, Maps now gives you the ability to favorite places in the My Places tab. Go ahead and grab it in the Market now.

What’s in this version:

  1. Personalize Place pages by uploading pictures from your visit
  2. Manage your starred and recently visited Places in the ‘My Places’ tab
  3. See descriptive terms for Places in search results and Places pages
  4. Add a new place to Places when checking in