Indian businessmen clog Google Places

Targetted at small entrepreneurs,Google Places which has been operational since last two years,enables a businesman to make his services and products known to his local consumers by being listed on the net all for free.

“India is a nation of small entreprenuers and it is estimated that there are more than 30 million small businessmen in the country. However,only a fraction of these are online. We have also observed that one out of five searches on Google is related to a user’s location and very often people are looking for local businesses”,he said.

Google Places listing,helps businesses to reach out to customers in a specific target areas without spending time and money and in creating a full-scale internet presences.

Advantage of local listing on Google Places include that a businessman can control the content of the business listing that appears in Google Search and Google Maps. It can aid business by having consumers to post review about the services or products offered.

Google Places helps a business man know how many times people have found his business on Google and from what areas people travel to visit his business,Gupta said.

For consumers it could help locate some local firms that serve a product or service including plumbers,hobby workshops,restaurants and they could also read the reviews to know the quality of their product or services.

Listing on the Google Places was simple and could be done in just five minutes by logging on to google.com/places and filling out some details. Verification is done either by SMS,verifying cell phone numbers or postal.

Google Places also enables a businessman to mark his business on the google map,load images and videos,add information like opening hours. However,the product does not support financial transactions.

The listing could also be viewed by consumers on mobile,giving the small entrepreneur large visibility.