Google Places Team Fighting Bugs In Dashboard Reporting

Google is working to fix at least a pair of bugs in the Google Places dashboard, both of which affect the analytics reporting related to a local business listing.

One bug is a delay in the analytics reporting inside Google Places. Earlier this week, users noticed that stats were only available through July 12th — more than a week without an update. In a Google Places Help forum thread, Google’s Ari B. says, “We’re aware of the problem and are working to get the most up-to-date information into the Google Places dashboard. You should start seeing more recent listing activity in the next few days.”

Indeed, as of this morning, the dashboard is better than before, but still not fixed. My account shows stats are now available through Sunday, July 18.

Local business owners and local search marketers have also noticed missing data in their Google Places analytics. In some cases, several days mysteriously show zero activity.

A Google spokesperson tells us that the missing data is typically related to “clustering” — when Google algorithmically (and over-aggressively) combines two businesses into one. Google says this is a separate issue from the stats reporting delay. and they’re “constantly working to improve the quality and reliability of the Places dashboard.”