Some of our clients who manage their own Google Places accounts have asked the question “Why does my verification page only have post card as an option?” recently.

The answer issimply that Google is now getting much stricter regarding the verification process required to list in the Google Maps.

If there is a business listing already in Google Maps and you attempt to claim this listing often you will still get the chance to use the phone option. However you’ have created a new listing then you option now will only be to verify via postcard.

So we asked Google directly why the change and the responce we got was:-

If this is a new business to Google then certain verification methods are now unavailable and the verification method used will be dependant on the information provided by the business. We are trying to maximize our trust levels for Google place listing and new listing that require a post card verification will provide us with the highest level of confidence that the business listing in Google Maps will real.

Our phone verification option is now only available if Google has a strong confidence that the listing information for the company is correct.

This new strategy is not meant to deter new business listings but create for users a better listing service for the results found within the Google search.

Chameleon believe that this is a good move by Google even if it makes the process slower as it will stop people simply adding new listing for Google Maps SEO purposes.

To answer question about Google Places try this link:- http://www.google.com/support/places/?hl=en-US&rd=1