Locksmith listing

[Mark Goho]

Hey all, I have a friend that's doing a GBP tour for a locksmith in Chicago.  I have images of the exterior and interior of the store (i.e., they're not just an SAB), address, phone number, website, etc.

Is there any point in attempting to create a locksmith listing with MapMaker?

[Flash]

You cannot, that category is locked down due to all the spam.  The owner will have to create it via Places if it doesn't exist already.  What is the address, we can try to see if perhaps it was live at one time.

[Mark Goho]

This is coming to me second hand, but apparently they created the listing some time in late November or early December and have been getting the run-around from Google+Local support since then.

Here's their info:

Nonstop Locksmith

1310 W Madison st 

chicago il 60607

http://www.nonstoplocksmith.com/default.aspx?siteid=153&pageid=5241&lang=2

I'm unable to find any listing for them via MapMaker or +Local.  No autocomplete, nothing.

[Flash]

Illinois is one of the few states that regulates locksmiths.  The first issue for this guys is that "Non-Stop Locksmith" is registered at a different address; namely:

2622 W DIVERSEY AVE APT 401

CHICAGO  60647

http://www.idfpr.com/LicenseLookUp/LocksmithLookup.asp

The second is that he display the ALOA shield on his site, but when you search their database you cannot find him.  http://www.findalocksmith.com/search.aspx

[Flash]

One thing Bliss and I were just discussing, it would be really good if the GBP could include a sidewalk photo with the business door open in the tour, it would really help.  Something along the lines of http://goo.gl/maps/Izj4E.  This will compensate until the Street View gets updated.  Photos of just the interior aren't really enough, they could have been taken anywhere; but the addition of a sidewalk one that blends into the rest of the tour but shows the street will go a long way.

[Mark Goho]

As far as pictures, here's what the photographer shared with me:

I will pass all of the information in this thread onto the photographer and business owner.  What it sounds like is there's probably more information available that's hurting the potential listing (no street view, conflicting addresses, not registered with ALOA) than what's available to help it get published.

As for the open door, all GBP tours are required to have what's called a "10-4-4" series of pano's that start 10 feet outside the business, then go to 4 feet outside and finally 4 feet inside.  The door(s) should be open for these three shots.  Only in rare circumstances will this not happen because of proximity to the street or because the business is in a privately owned building, or something like that.

As far as I know they've created a listing but it's in the process of being approved, so it's probably best for me not to even attempt a new listing through MapMaker.

Thanks again for your insight into this issue.  And thank goodness we'll have all of these posts archived and searchable when we switch to the new forum!

-Mark