Local Business Center, the service that local businesses use to hand a virtual shingle from within Google Maps, is being renamed Google Places, reports Fast Company.
Along with the name change, Google’s added a heap of new features to help firms connect with potential customers. As well as simplifying the way businesses connect with Place Pages and Google Goggles, the relaunch will sew up even more advertising dollars–and, somewhat bizarrely, offer businesses the chance of a free photo shoot with a photographer.
Other changes will allow businesses such as plumbing firms or piano tuners to now show their geographic reach to potential clients on their own page. (They will also be able to make their home addresses private, which is handy for when their geographic reach includes disgruntled customers.)
The existing $25-a-month Tags feature has been extended to Austin, Atlanta, and Washington, with Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder, and San Francisco is coming soon.
Lastly, QR codes will be available to download from the dashboard of Google Places, so that customers can get straight to the mobile version of a Place Page for any business.
Google is also giving its Favorite Places program a second airing, which looks a little bit like Google’s got its eye on what is traditionally Yelp territory.
Photo by Google.