Dear dead horse: please prepare for additional beatings. That's what many people will think when reading this new reference to my advocating taking control of your Yelp listing. But there's some new information that has value to you! Last week Apple introduced IOS6, a new version of their operating system. Concurrently, they introduced a new iPhone and promptly sold over 2 million of those to eager customers, myself included. But there's a back story to all of this. Google and Apple have fallen out of love and now, essentially, hate one another. It started when Steve Jobs accused Google of stealing ideas from them to create Android, the operating system on so many smart phones. As this war of the giants waged on, Apple decided not to put any Google resources on its new phone and spent countless hours "de-Google-izing" their operating system. The bottom line - the super excellent Google mapping technology that used to be included with the iPhone has been replaced by proprietary maps from Apple. Oh, joy. And while Google has spent years and untold resources working toward perfecting its maps application, Apple simply scraped Yelp data to gain information about local businesses. Yes, Yelp. Again with Yelp. his morning I did a search for "barbecue" and the closest listing I found was in Chico. Chico. I got all up on my high horse, knowing that there are a few BBQ places near me and even wrote to Yelp to complain about this. Then I realized that Yelp spelled the word "barbeque." This is considered a misspelling on my smart phone and by my computer. The bottom line on this is that businesses who have taken control of their Yelp listing should find that they gain an additional boost as Apple's mapping technology. Unfortunately, Apple's maps are new and there are issues with them. But they are also a reality that more people will encounter as more people find that their phone's operating system has upgraded itself. You gotta love the fact that, when two giants fight, we're the ones with all the bruises. Comments are closed.
|
Tony BarthelTony Barthel is passionate about great marketing for small businesses Get Free Weekly Marketing TipsCategories
All
|