Apple launches a portal for businesses to get better exposure in Apple Maps

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Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

If you’ve got a business that Apple Maps just keeps on getting wrong, great news. Apple has just launched a new portal for U.S. businesses to add or edit their listings within Apple Maps.

Called Apple Maps Connect, the new portal aims to allow small business owners to make their businesses more visible (and — perhaps more importantly — have accurate listings) within Apple Maps.

The popular SEO blog Search Engine Land has given Maps Connect a spin, and they’ve taken a number of screenshots showing how it works.

With Apple’s customary great design chops, you use Apple Maps Connect by just logging in with your Apple ID, and then either creating or claiming your business listing.

You then have to authenticate your account, which is done in real-time with a code provided by an automated call. After you authenticate your account, you can then change your info in Apple Maps, albeit with as long as a week’s delay.

The Apple Maps Connect site also offers small business owners the ability to install iBeacon technology in high profile locations. But you’ve got to be big enough: if you don’t get 1 million visitors per year, you may not qualify.

Given Apple Maps’s reliability problems over the last few years, Apple Maps Connect ought to lead to more than a few small business owners breathing a sigh of relief.

Source: Search Engine Land

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