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Local Business Center User Guide

Adding more than 10 listings

How is adding more than 10 listings different from adding just one?

Well for starters, the way you add them is a little different. We'll ask you to upload your listings as a "bulk feed" in a CSV file (don't worry, we'll show you how to make one). Not only that, you won't need to verify your listings.

However, this means that a listing submitted in a bulk uploaded isn't trusted the same way an individual listing is. The information you submit in a bulk listing may be combined with other, third-party information and the best result displayed. Your listings will therefore look a little different than a single, verified listing on Google Maps, and can still be edited by the community. Bulk listings will take up to 2 weeks to appear in Google Maps. If you want to submit ten or more listings and verify them, you'll have to submit each one as an individual listing.

What your listing will look like

A listing added as part of a bulk feed will look much the same as one added individually, with a few key differences: you won't see the phrase "Provided by the business owner." Instead, the information you submit will be attributed to the website that you designate, as shown below:

a bulk listing

Also, since we combine your information with information from other sources and display the best result, you might notice information in your listing that's different from what you submitted.

Ok! How do I get started?

Once you've completed the sign-up process, follow these steps to create a bulk upload:

Open your computer's spreadsheet program.
You can use a spreadsheet program, such as the spreadsheet feature in Google Docs or Microsoft Excel, to create a bulk upload file. Or, simply use a text editor such as Notepad or WordPad.

Microsoft Excel makes it easy to convert files into this format. You may also work with a text editor, such as Notepad or WordPad, if you prefer; just make sure that every attribute is separated by only one tab when you create your file.

Step 2: Select a bulk upload type.
Specify the type of business locations bulk upload you are creating.

Enter the bulk upload type in the first row.

There are three types of bulk upload: 'Complete,' 'Addition,' and 'Deletion':

Complete: This is the upload type you should use if you want to upload a comprehensive list of all your business locations in operation. A 'Complete' bulk upload will overwrite any previous 'Complete' uploads, so business listings that you've previously uploaded that aren't in your new upload will be considered inactive.
Addition: Use this bulk upload type to add to your current list of businesses that have already been uploaded. Business listings that you've previously uploaded to Google Maps will be unaffected.
Deletion: List businesses no longer in operation in this upload, and they will be removed from Google Maps. You can only delete business listings that you've added yourself.

Step 3: Create a header row.
On the second row of your spreadsheet, fill in each of the attributes in your bulk upload according to Google's required fields.

For each business included in your bulk upload, you're required to provide the following information:

Store Code: The store code is a unique ID that you can assign to each of your business locations. These codes can help you identify your business at a glance.
Name: The name of your business as it will appear in Google Maps. It must be under 60 characters. You may capitalize the first letter of each word or include up to a four-letter acronym, but entire words should not be capitalized.
Address Line 1: The street address of your business. This should be a maximum of 80 characters.
City: The city where your business is located (maximum of 80 characters).
State: The state where your business is located (maximum of 80 characters).
Postal Code: A valid 5-digit or 5-4 (5-4 zip codes can be entered with the hyphen, or without).
Country Code: The ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 short country name where your business is located.
Main Phone: This is the main phone number that will appear in Google Maps. Remember to include your area code.

Step 4: Enter business information.
On each row, enter information for each of your businesses.

Fill in the information about your business according to each header. You must list only one business per row. We also support some optional headers that may help users more easily find your businesses on Google Maps. Please refer to our 'Optional Business Locations Bulk Upload Attributes' for more on these headers.

In addition, you can add custom attributes to your listing. For example, a restaurant listing may want to specify certain cuisines that it serves. Please refer to Optional Business Locations Bulk Upload Custom Attributes for more on how to set up these attributes and common attributes for different business types.

Step 5: Include an end of file sequence.
Include 'End' as the last line of each bulk upload.

Tabs, carriage returns, or new line characters: If any of these appear in an attribute, we will not be able to display that location on Google Maps.
HTML tags, comments, and escape sequences: We will try to remove any HTML from your entries, but for best appearance, you should not include HTML in your bulk upload.

Step 6: Convert your bulk upload to tab-delimited plain text.
Convert your spreadsheet into a tab-delimited text (.txt) file.

Go to the File menu in the top left corner and click Save As.
Next to 'Save as type', select Unicode Text.
Type in a filename and click Save. If you see a warning window pop up, click OK. If you see a second warning message, click Yes.

Step 7: Send your bulk upload to Google Maps.

Once you've saved your bulk upload, send it to us.

Step 8: Check your bulk upload for errors.

After you've sent your bulk upload, we'll tell you right away if your feed was accepted, and let you know if there are any problems. Once your feed is accepted, we'll start adding your listings to your Local Business Center account. This can take a little while (especially for large uploads), so its best to come back after about an hour to check your listings.

When your listings show up in your Local Business Center, you can see if they've been approved. If any of your listings are rejected, you can fix the problems and re-upload your feed.

Step 9: (Optional) Request verification for your bulk upload

If you are the business owner of all of the bulk uploaded listings in your Local Business Center account, you can request verification for your bulk upload. Provide us with your business information in this bulk upload verification form. If you are not the business owner for these listings, please do not fill out this form.

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