Well it’s not a Google Places help phone number, but I guess it’s the next best thing. (Update – see in comment section for Google Places’s support phone numbers).
Today on the Google Small Business Blog they announced support for Google Places. It’s a small success for small businesses who desperately need assistance, due to all the problems with Google Places.
All I can say is, “thank-goodness!”
I still wish Google Places offered a support phone number, hell they could charge for support and people would be happy to pay. I’d pay for that in a heart beat! I am sure I am not the only one who’d love to see Google Places offer a support phone number.
We have only been asking for better Google Places support for several years now. Even though, I much would have rather heard that Google Places listed a help phone number, but nonetheless, let me stay positive and welcome any success we get in support from Google Places, right? 
How Well Does This New Google Places Help Option Work?
It is still yet to be seen, how well this Google Places help option works or what the turn around time will be…? Not to be a negative nelly … but I hope it’s better then their “report a problem” link is that is listed on Google Places Listings. I submitted like 20-30 requests to that silly link over the last year and I have yet to ever hear back. However on the flip side, I must admit I have always received some moderate success on support (in a timely manner) from their Google Places Forum. If you get Vanessa from GP you’ll be in good hands.
Google Places Help Link:
If your Google Places Listing has incorrect information you can submit a support ticket here. (also see in comment section below for updated links to where you should direct your Google Places support issues and there is an email too 
)
Be sure to then do this:
- Check off “I have verified my listing in my Google Places for business account.” If you do not check this you will be re-directed to their silly ‘report a problem’ page which doesn’t seem to yield any real results.
- Then check the box with what your problem is and leave a detailed description of what the challenge is.
I found this link is working and we’ll get an email right away telling us they received the support ticket and often within a week or two we’ll get an update telling the challenge has be fixed or at least when it will be fixed.
What To Do If You Still Can’t Get Support With Google Places?
If you can’t get the Google Places support you need, then consult with a Google Places expert (Like us! Wink, wink, hint, hint) Most of the time, we have had enough experience to problem solve most Google Places challenges. We are not the only Google Places experts out there, you can also check out our list of local seo’ers, any of those SEO fat cats can help too!
We can also try to help you for free by listing you challenges below. Be detailed, but DO NOT post logins to your Google Places or anything you want kept private (as this is a public blog post and anybody can read your comments below).
Matt, I tried it and it seems there are quite a few changes even to the normal “Report a problem” feature. They are now auto-creating a special ID for each problem (something like a ticket) and they say they will follow up on the issue, so I believe that’s some kind of a tracking system, which is great. I believe up to now there was no such thing in place and everything was based on how many times one would press the “Report” button. The more signals sent, the better.
I think now there will be some order… Really hope things will improve in the near future.
P.S. Kinda sad I didn’t make it to the ultimate list, but well… I’ll try harder
Nyagoslav, thanks for the update on knowing there is a support ID created – that sounds promising. FYI, you were just added to the ultimate local SEO’er list. When I made it, you were not in the circuit yet.
W00t! Thanks Matt! That means a lot to me
Actually the list you compiled + a similar list by Ramit Narang were one of the first things I read when I entered the world of local search. And then I subscribed to all the people’s blogs. Unfortunately many are rather inactive now…
Hi Matthew, thank you for this information, it looks like Google are starting to notice that things are not always perfect, and sometimes we might need help
Hey Matt,
i have one question maybe you can help me,
i have one client that have 2 google places acounts for his 2 store,
the thing is that its showing the old adress for his business and he dont remember who created
for him these acounts.
i ask from google throug his acount to edit the adress but i didnt got answer coz im not the owner
of these acounts.
how can i edit these acounts ?
is there a way to claim owner for these acount ?
Thank You
Guy I’ll email you direct to get listings and then I’ll take a look.
Hi Matt. I’m having terribly frustrating problem with my places account. A competitor’s who used to work in my office, has a places page that appears to be merging with mine. His info (ie. phone number) seems to always be listed on my page. For a while, my reviews were listed on his page, his map showed up on my page, and my office photos were stuck on his page. My reviews then dissappeared all together. I have contacted Google several times over the past few months but I am never able to speak with a member of the places team directly. I am only able to leave messages with an Adwords support member. Do you think that you can help me?
Davis, yes contact me direct and I can should be able to help. [email protected]
We have two separate businesses in different locations selling different items (each with a separate verified Google Places listing)
(1) Berryland Campers, 42775 Pleasant Ridge Road Ext, Ponchatoula LA 70454, United States http://www.berrylandcampers.com
(2) Berryland Motors, 204 East Pine Street, Ponchatoula LA 70454, United States http://www.berrylandmotors.com
…however, the two business are combined in ONE places account. We’ve tried contacting Google and using the ‘Report an Error’ function countless times to no avail.
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?q=berryland+motors&cid=10952543401432862281
This listing has the Berryland Campers business name, Berryland Campers phone number, and 6 of 16 Berryland Campers pictures.
This same listing also has the Berryland Motors street address, Berryland Motors domain name, Berryland Motors description, and 10 of 16 Berryland Motors pictures.
How is this error even possible?? Especially since it has been report so many times and many months ago??! What gives??
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Places/thread?tid=34a58df0fa78ea7c&hl=en&fid=34a58df0fa78ea7c0004b98f8fbb18a0
hello – mad@google (cute), it is probably due to having some core data that was the same to cause the merging of two listings. Did the listings share the same phone #? Looks like from your example they had different addresses and DBA’s. Each google places listing must have a unique phone number and ideally unique address. You can have as many as you want as long as you have unique phone number and address for each one. DBA and even website can be the same. You can have multiple listings in one city. What i suggest you do is make an edit in the back end see it it updates. if not purge the extra merged listing (assuming it’s associated with the same verified logins), then re-create a new listing for the listing that got merged and this time make sure the number and addy is 100% unique.
If you continue to have difficulties or just don’t want to handle this yourself we have a paid ‘done for you’ services. Just use one of our contact forms and we’ll get back in touch with you shortly.
Hello Matt,
Great post !!
I have a client that with old google places acount
the problem is that the address in that listing is wrong…(the client move to b difrent place)
he dont remember who created the acount for him and i dont have a access to change the address.
I send a request about this issue before and google change the address to the right one.
For some reason google now change again the address of the listing to the old one.
I tray to inform google about the problem throug the google places help center
but so far i didnt got answer.
how can i fix it ?
how can i inform google about the problem ?
hey guy,
you can claim verified listings again. you’ll post card. then claim with domain email, so if you have challenges you can use report a problem in GP and you’ll most likely get it fixed.
you can re-claim the old account (even if shows claimed already – it’ll be with post card) when you do use domain email, so if you have any challenges you can contact support and they are more likely to make your requested changes when you use business’s domain’s email than some free email account.
For Google Places Support links:
Use this one 1st:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
Then do this:
- I have verified my listing in my Google Places for business account. (if you don’t you’ll be re-directed to Google Place’s “report a problem” link and you don’t want that to happen)
- Yes (or it is not available on my listing)
- There is a duplicate listing that I would like to have removed.
Here are two more Google Places support links that work too:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/request.py?contact_type=placesfrontline_data
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
How do you get Google to take action against a company that is posting fake reviews to boost their ratings? There’s a company that I know of that is scamming their customers. Their page is filled with either 1 star reviews or 5 star reviews. Obviously they’re writing the majority, if not all of the 5 star reviews. They even tried impersonating me by writing a phony retraction after I wrote a unfavorable review. Meanwhile cops are being called on this place on a regular basis but are unable to do anything about these scam artists. I hate to see people get taken like I did.
Jaye,
you can post a thread on the Google Places Forum or use the following links:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/request.py?contact_type=placesfrontline_data
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
I am having a rather bizarre problem. I work for a company that owns a number of small locations around the world, and I’ve been attempting to claim them on Google Places. However, I recently received a red bar at the top of my places page notifying me that my account was suspended. I clicked the link to review it and got notified that the “review” service no longer exists. I don’t know what the problem is, or what to change to get my places to go through. I entered a “ticket” through the places support page, but have yet to hear back. Any help would be appreciated.
Kent, it can take up to two weeks to hear back from Google Places. If you do not hear back and the account remains suspended sometimes it’s faster to start over. Set-up a new account. You’ll still get credit for citations floating around on the web, but what you may need to walk away from is any reviews you may have. Sometimes with multiple accounts you may want to set-up multiple GP accounts b/c it’s less likely they’ll all get tapped at the same time. NOW before you do this, try to find out what is you are doing wrong to get a suspended status, otherwise this might happen again on a new account. Accounts do not get suspended for no reason, so there must me some factor you’ve over looked that is not following the GP terms/guidelines.
Hi Matt,
Our business listing
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?q=basic+business+systems&cid=17689405483731107039
has been verified by my boss and he is able to update as normal.
I would also like to update the listing, however when I try and create it using the find business buy phone look up it says “No address found for a business using 0115 940 5000 . Add your information below.”
I obviously don’t want to create another listing. The support options don’t really cover this as they talk as though you are already the verified owner or you want to claim one that isn’t verified???
Any ideas how I can update this without asking my boss to verify the change each time, and also why wouldn’t it find the business by the phone number?
Mark
Mark, I wouldn’t be able to give guidance without logging in and seeing. If you like you can email us at [email protected] and we can take a look.
Update for Google Places Support (thanks to Nyagoslav Zhekov)
Phone Support:
Yes! Phone support for Google Places problems does exist. However, only for a small number of cities in the US for now. These include:
Portland – 503-567-9632
Austin – 512-537-5485
Madison – 608-305-4001
San Diego – 619-928-9401
Additionally, you might try your luck with the AdWords Express customer service (note that you might have better results if you are an actual paying customer):
United States – 1-877-503-0842
United Kingdom – 0800 169 0474
Germany – 0800 – 58 94 305
France – 0 805 540 722
Australia (trial version) – 1800 257 282
EMAIL Support for Google Places: [email protected]
IMPORTANT: Google Places prefers you use these two places to submit support tickets:
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1399021&page=ts.cs
(if you are having a problem with your listing)
http://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs
(if you are having a problem verifiying my listing)