by Chris Riordan | Apr 30, 2026 | Blog, Other, Tech Update
Why Your Trading Hours Are a Top Ranking Factor (and where Multi-Location Brands Are Leaking Visibility) Two identical coffee shops, two blocks apart. Same menu, same 4.6-star rating, same exterior photos. At 8:14pm on a Tuesday, one of them shows up in the Map... by Chris Riordan | Apr 30, 2026 | Blog, Other, Tech Update
Tech Update: Social Comments UI Update Great news for multi-location ops teams. We have rolled out a fresh, rebuilt Social Comments experience inside the Social Places dashboard, and it is designed to make managing comments across dozens of stores and every... by Leroy | Mar 16, 2026 | Blog, Other
Google Maps launched Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation on 12 March 2026, both powered by Gemini AI and will be coming to South Africa soon. The update transforms Maps from a keyword search tool into a conversational discovery platform, with implications for... by Leroy | Jan 28, 2026 | Blog, Other
Imagine waking up, opening your Google Business Profile, and seeing your hard-earned 4.8-star rating has suddenly dipped. Even worse, dozens of your most recent reviews have simply… vanished. If this happened to you toward the end of 2025, you weren’t alone. It was... by Social Places | Dec 9, 2025 | Blog, Other
Google has officially reimagined Maps with its new Gemini-powered experience, transforming it from a turn-by-turn tool into a real-time, discovery-driven navigation engine. This shift moves Maps beyond “how to get there” and into “why you should go there,”... by Social Places | Nov 24, 2025 | Blog, Go Listings, Go Social, Other
A scam has emerged in the online review landscape. Scammers are targeting individuals, enticing them to write fake positive reviews for restaurants on Google Maps in exchange for money. This practice, known as the “write restaurant review on Google” scam,...