Places Scout Software

Posted by Mark Kabana on 03 December 2014 02:02 PM Places Scout Update Version 2.8.1 has just been released! Included in this update is a fix for gathering Maps Results, as well as support for gathering the new local 3-Pack results and other bug fixes / improvements. Places Scout Version 2.8.1 Release Notes • FIXED – Gathering Maps Results • NEW – Added support for parsing results from the new Google 3-Pack that appears for certain searches (restaurants, hotels, etc).

Attention internet marketers: places scout software is JUNK. Do NOT Spend $197 on it or you will regret it! BTW that is $197 PER YEAR. It will not work unless you pay places scout owner mark kabana another $197 for his worthless sofwtare EVERY year. Lots of people at internet marketing boards have.

• NOTE: These new result types are now labeled as ‘Local 3-Pack’ • NOTE: To track Local 3-Pack Rankings, you MUST include the exact business name in the ‘Exact Business Name’ box when creating / editing a ranking report, as local 3-Pack results do not contain a website URL in the HTML of the result so we have to fall back on tracking by business name for these results. • FIXED – Calculating Distance from Center • FIXED – Properly parsing address data in some cases where only certain parts of the address are available • FIXED – In the Find Local Clients module, in certain cases data from a different business would be displayed for some results due to a bug where Google has an incorrect +Local page link for that result (one that points to a business that is not the current result). Logic has been added to detect this case which fixes this issue. • FIXED – Parsing Review Date for Google+ Reviews • FIXED – Proper parsing of review text when a review has an owner response for Google+ • FIXED – Gathering Estimated Employees and Years in Business in the Find Local Clients Module • IMPROVED – Improved the Speed of Loading Gridview XML Data when disabling map markers Enjoy! Best Regards, Mark Kabana Places Scout Development Team.

Posted by Mark Kabana on 26 September 2014 11:08 PM Places Scout Update Version 2. Free Police Scanner Frequencies List. 8.0 has just been released! Included in this update are numerous bug fixes, new features and improvements across the board, as well as support for the latest Firefox Version 32.x. Visit Places Scout at SMX East! If you are attending SMX East, we invite you to stop by Booth #431 and say hello, as we would love to meet all of our customers attending the conference in person.

Places Scout Version 2.8.0 Release Notes • FIXED / SUPPORT ADDED – Places Scout now works properly with the latest Firefox Version 32.x • SUPPORT ADDED – You can now choose to gather data from the new Google Maps. • NOTE: The setting to gather results from the new Maps under the 'General' settings section, and is true by default. • NEW – You can now select multiple Grid View XML files when loading previously stored data in the Find Local Clients module! • This new feature allows you to aggregate results from multiple scrapes into one data file for processing. Posted by Mark Kabana on 18 July 2014 09:09 PM This update fixes an issue that surfaced overnight that caused Places Scout not to gather Maps Results properly, which caused no results to come back in the Find Local Clients module and issues tracking Maps Rankings. Also included are several improvements with parsing address data and gathering additional data for results that don’t have a +Local Page link. Posted by Mark Kabana on 24 June 2014 08:42 PM This critical update removes the option to gather the old 'Places' SERPs, as Google recently removed the ability to access the old Places SERPs.

Since gathering Places SERPs was the default setting, many users reported that no results were coming back due to this change by Google, and this has been fixed in the update. Places SERPs are now replaced by Maps SERPs in all modules. IMPORTANT NOTE: The 'Use Real Browser to Gather Data' setting must be enabled to gather Maps Results.

This means that you MUST check this setting when using the Find Local Clients and Citation Finder modules, as well as the Rank Tracker module when a ranking report is configured to gather Maps Results. The only case that you can disable using the real browser is when running a ranking report where the 'Number of Maps Results to Gather' setting is set to 0. IMPORTANT NOTE #2: When searching for Maps Results for in some cases for certain keywords (ex: business names), Google will take you directly to a single result on the Map, and there will be no list of results for that keyword. We have added support to return a single result with the proper result data in these cases.

Release Notes • REMOVED – Option to Gather ‘Places’ SERP results from all modules, as Google is no longer providing access to the old Places SERPs. Places Scout will now gather ‘Maps’ results instead of Places SERPs for all modules. • FIXED – Gathering Maps Result data in the case where a keyword searched in Maps takes you directly to a single business on the Map. A single Maps Result with the proper data gathered is now returned in this case.

• NEW FEATURE / SETTING –Ability to run a ranking report for ONLY Organic Results, allowing you to exclude gathering Maps results and rankings for the Ranking Report. You can set this up by editing a ranking report, going to the ‘Report Settings’ tab, and selecting ‘0’ for the ‘Number of Maps Results to Gather’ setting. • NEW FEATURE – Bulk Save to PDF button is now available in the Create Client Reports module. You can now bulk save all ranking reports to a PDF file using this new feature. Previously the bulk save was only available for saving as HTML.

Hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! Posted by Mark Kabana on 09 June 2014 06:14 PM Places Scout Version 2.7.7 has just been released! Included in this update are two new highly requested data items in the Find Local Clients module – the number of +Local Page Views and Followers, as well as several minor bug fixes when gathering Maps results and running reputation reports. Places Scout Version 2.7.7 Release Notes • NEW – The number of +Local Page Followers and Profile Views is now available in the Find Local Clients Module! • You can find these values under the ‘+Local Followers’ and ‘+Local Profile Views’ columns in the grid view. • FIXED – Parsing the current Google Location Setting when NOT using the real browser – The issue was not changing the actual location setting, rather reading the current location setting after it was changed, and this bug did not affect users who have the ‘Use Real Browser to Gather Data’ setting checked. • FIXED – Properly tracking rankings for domains that end in.co.uk – a bug was introduced in the last version that caused the incorrect tracking for domains that end in.co.uk, and this has been fixed.

• FIXED – Parsing the proper average rating from Yelp • FIXED – Gathering Reviews from the new Kudzu layout, as well as auto-populating Kudzu listing URLs. • FIXED – Gathering reviews from all sections on Urbanspoon and parsing review dates.

• FIXED – Generating the proper hyperlinked keyword when clicking a ranking in the grid view of the Rank Tracker in some cases • FIXED – An error would occur when using the ‘Gather Additional Data for Current Results’, if any of the current results were 7-Pack results – This has been fixed. • FIXED – Parsing Maps Results from the old Maps layout if present – The code was updated to parse results from the new Maps layout, but the old layout is still being displayed in some cases. The code now detects which Maps layout is present, and parses the results accordingly. • FIXED – When gathering Maps results, if there is only 1 page of results (i.e. No next button), Places Scout would unnecessarily wait for the next button, causing a slow down in gathering results. This no longer occurs.

• FIXED – When gathering Maps Results, in rare cases for some keywords, the ‘Maps’ link is link sometimes under the ‘More’ menu instead in the Main menu, causing Places Scout not to click this link properly and gather Maps results. This has been fixed and support has been added to check for this case and properly click the ‘Maps’ link if it is under the ‘More’ menu. • FIXED – When gathering Maps Results, in some cases where the keyword searched takes the browser directly to a business on the map and there is no option to list maps results for that keyword, Places Scout would not return any Maps results. This has been fixed so that Places Scout returns the single result that appears on the Map in this case. • FIXED – For users who have the Skype Click to Call plugin installed, phone numbers would sometimes be displayed twice (i.e. (555) 555-5555(555) 555-5555). This issue has been fixed so the phone is not displayed twice.

• NOTE: Rank 6 is now color coded yellow instead of red in the Rank Tracker to make it consistent with the color coding of other grid views. • NEW – There is a now a ‘View Current License Code’ in Settings Manager for reference Enjoy!

Best Regards, Mark Kabana Places Scout Development Team.

UPDATE: 11/29 MAJOR SOFTWARE UPDATE –. Tons of new features including ability to do ranking reports for keywords without geo modifier.

Distance from city center added to competitive analysis. If you already read the original post from Nov 10, be sure to skip down to read about all the new software features. (Even if you already purchased, learn about all the new power that was added.) – You guys KNOW how hard it is to find local rank tracking software that really cuts the mustard!

I have BETA tested so many programs + use other disjointed tools for competitive analysis and other tasks to run my business. But half the time I just need to go to Google and do manual checks to get the data I need. Today I am SO excited to share with you guys some software I’ve been BETA testing that is like a swiss army knife for local SEO. It does really advanced Places rank tracking PLUS competitive analysis to help you rank your clients higher, PLUS lead generation to help you find new clients PLUS citation finding PLUS reputation management to a degree and lots more, all in one VERY INEXPENSIVE software program.

(I keep telling him I could sell this at 3 times the price. Lucky for you he hasn’t taken me up on it yet!) 😉 Before I even introduce it I want to explain part of the ranking tracking piece that is REALLY important. I had the developer program in a way to show you the TYPE of rankings your client has. Do they rank #2 in a 7 pack plus #3 organic?

Or #4 in blended? (If you don’t know why this is SO important read below.) Introducing. (FYI the site isn’t even up yet, so this is a link to a special discount at the Warrior forum – $only 97 right now.) There are TONS of features, so watch the videos and check out the screenshots that explain each module. So be sure to check out the features that interest you for more info, as this post mainly zeros in on the rank tracking piece. The software has gone through several updates and I was holding back until the last one to announce this to be sure it has most of the new features. And I have him working on some new stuff that will really blow you away!

But there are lifetime upgrades, so you can buy now while the price is so low and grow with it, as new features are continually added. NO OTHER SOFTWARE shows you what TYPE of ranking all in one report. (Pure Places, Pure Organic, Blended and 7 Pack) This is HUGE!

(More info about that below.) And again this program does an amazing job of competitive analysis, prospecting and citation research. But the part I’m most excited about is the rank tracking. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW. Has something the leading local software I use is missing – something we really need for local. Due to all G’s changes we need to know not only WHERE a client ranks but what type of ranking it is. Are they #2 in a 7 pack plus #3 organic?

Or #4 in blended? So I told Mark this was an important missing piece of the puzzle and told him I wouldn’t even switch to his program unless he could make it happen. He did that and TONS more! WHY is it important to know if your clients is ranking with a Blended, 7 pack or organic result? You can have a client that’s ranking #4 in a generic report that does not spell out the difference. A week later they drop to #22. With reports that don’t show the different SERP styles, you have no way of knowing why they dropped.

They could have ranked high in 7 pack but then drop due to G switching that KW to a blended. They may have had lots of citations and ranked in pk, BUT you have not optimized site yet, so that’s why they don’t rank high now that G switched to blended. I WAS using what I think WAS the best for local rankings (until now).

But it does not give me that added level of detail that I need, so I still had to manually spot check rankings all the time and make manual notes about what type of ranking it is. Not any more! So check out and let me know what you think.

For $97, even if you just used the competitive analysis piece to help rank clients higher, it would pay for itself. (I haven’t even talked about that part yet, but it’s really powerful, check out the video at the warrior link above.) Wait til you see some of the new features Mark and I are brainstorming now. The software is already killer, but soon you’ll see some amazing features no one else has. Also if you have any features you think need to be added just let me know. If it’s an important feature lots of people need, I’ll pass it on to Mark. He’s an Fing GENIOUS and can probably make it happen!

================================================================================= 11/29: MAJOR NEW SOFTWARE UPDATE Based on my recommendations Mark has furiously been programming some MAJOR new features. One of the most important is the ability to run ranking reports for KEYWORD ONLY without a city modifier, emulating the location of the consumers around that business area.

So in addition to getting ranking reports that include “city dentist” and “dentist city” you can also find out how your client ranks for “dentist” within that geo region. This is HUGE! See the following posts for all the reason this is so important. And also really important see NEW FEATURES – AND FIXES – Places Scout Version 2.1.0 New Features Added • New Location Emulation Rank Tracking Feature! • Places Scout can now track rankings using new location emulation technology! This allows you to perform a keyword query without the geo-modifier • This is the same as searching for just a keyword (with no location) but changing your Google location to the entered location. Very powerful for accurate and complete rank tracking reports.

• You can now enter both regular locations and emulated locations when creating a ranking report. • Support for Zip Code Map Polygons – Places Scout can now draw polygons around US Zip Code boundaries when a zip code is entered as a location. Useful in conjunction with new Location Emulation technology. • Map Polygons are now available when entering just a city name (as long as there isn’t another city with the same name) • Bulk Ranking Report Functions – You can now perform bulk actions on all ranking reports to save time managing many ranking reports.

The following bulk features are now available: • Bulk Import Client Data – Creates ranking reports for all your clients from CSV files that you can create from most CRM programs. • Bulk Run All Ranking Reports – Runs all ranking reports in one click. • Bulk Export Ranking Reports – Exports all ranking reports to specified format.

• Search and Sort Ranking Reports – New features allow you search ranking reports and filter / sort all reports. • Rank Tracker – Geo-Distance from Center for Competitor Data – Geo-Distance from center is now provided for each competitor result in the Rank Tracker data. Helps you understand how far each result is location geographically from the location centroid. • Mobile Website Detection – Places Scout will now provide whether a business has a mobile website in the Find Local Clients module. There is a new option under the ‘Select Additional Data to Gather’ button that you can choose to gather this data.

• A filter has been added to filter out results that have a mobile site. • Organic 7-Pack / Blended Results in Find Local Clients – Places Scout can now provide Organic 7-pack / Blended Results data in addition to the current Places Results in the Find Local Clients module. There is a new option under the ‘Select Additional Data to Gather’ button that you can choose to gather this data. • New Social Media Metrics in Find Local Clients – Places Scout will now provide the Reddit score and Delicious bookmark count for each result when choosing to gather social media metrics. • Custom Gridview Filtering – You can now add custom data filters in all grid views for any data column. Here’s how to do it: • Click the grid view options button in the upper left corner of any grid view. There is now a button to enable / disable custom filtering.

Click this button to enable custom filtering. • After enabling custom filtering, there will be a filter icon to the right of all the grid view column headers. Click this icon, and a dialog will appear where you can apply any filtering logic to the data column.

• Client HTML Reports – Sort by Organic Rank – An option to sort Client HTML reports by Organic Rank instead of Places Rank has been added General Improvements • Ranking Report Data Optimization – Many optimizations have been made to the code that saves and loads ranking report data – the UI is much faster and more responsive when navigating ranking reports. • Reduced Memory Footprint – Places Scout now uses less RAM due to optimizations made in ranking report data storage. • In-Memory Data Caching – Places Scout will now cache various data elements when gathering data so that the software doesn’t gather the same data over and over again for data runs that have identical results. • This GREATLY speeds up data gathering when the same results are returned for similar queries. • Only data that should be cached is cached so that results are always up to date.

• Application Responsiveness – The application UI is now much speedier than before as upgrades have been made to all UI controls. • Improved rank tracker status reporting has been added when running ranking reports.

• Built in detection and user notification has been added if you get banned from Manta for gathering too much data. A dialog will now appear after gathering data when you are banned.

• Many improvements and optimizations have been made to the data gathering code. Bug Fixes • A bug where excessive captchas were being displayed when running Ranking Reports has been fixed. • A bug importing Google Adwords data has been fixed (google recently changed the XML file format for adwords data). Importing Google AdWords data now works for other countries and currencies. Download Drivers Packard Bell Easynote Ts11hr there.

• Fixed a bug where only 10 results would be returned even if you choose to gather more when changing the Selected Country or running Places Scout in a non-supported country • Fixed a bug where the stumble upon views always returned as N/A • Fixed a bug in the Keyword Generator where no results would come back for the ‘Google Local Related’ keyword source option. • Several other minor bugs have been fixed.

Mark just announced the price for is going up so if you want to grab it at $97, today is the day. SOFTWARE AUTO-UPDATES & ALL SOFTWARE UPDATES ARE FREE!

** Related Posts: SEE COMMENTS BELOW Like our content? Please share it! Have scraper too, but not sure I’ve used the very latest version.

From what I know tho it’s apples and oranges to some degree. But last I used GPS it does awesome for competitive analysis, which is all I’ve used it for. Places Scout has similar features so they are fairly comparable on that front I think.

(Although honestly have not compared feature for feature for their analysis capability) However the main thing I need is RANK TRACKING and last I knew GPS didn’t do that. And Scout does TONS of things with rank tracking really well. There are layers and layers of tracking data, that you can customize to get exactly what you need to see OR what you want to show the client. There are all kinds of hidden features you won’t even know are there because the SW has so many options. Every time I try it or talk to Mark I find new features I didn’t even know about.

Lots of hidden power to do whatever you need so need to watch the vids and click the buttons and read tooltips on all the menu items and tabs. So if you already have GPS and you don’t need rank tracking ONLY analysis, then you are good. OR if GPS now does extensive and configurable rank tracking and somehow I missed the news then I need to try it. If you don’t have either one then Scout is a lot less expensive and does more IMO. I mean I love GPS, don’t get me wrong and I think pros would do well do have both.

• # 5 wrote on. I can also say that this software is incredible and so is the lead programmer, Mark.

We have a large team of SEO Operators and this system is by far the best way to manage our 1000+ client list. In fact, our sales team are in the process of integrating this on their iPads to acquire customers, our customer service team use this to assist rank, our CRM team use this to generate reports and graphs (especially the screen shots of the map which nobody else does) and our SEO team use this to manage falling listings. Our last audit suggested this software has saved us over $50,000+ annually in manual time saving tasks. The most impressive piece is it’s constantly updated to reflect changes in Panda or other algo/UI changes meaning we’re always supported.

And trust me, we have a $20k annual budget for testing software to improve processes – and have tried everything nothing’s even come close, especially for the price. • # 6 wrote on. Thanks for the sale Kathy! Money is never my primary motive to do anything. Helping people is.

Heck I help people for free all the time in the Google forum and free consults. So really the comment you emailed me “Wow, Linda. That software is great. It’s exactly as I would developed it had I the talent, skills and resources.” was payment enough, but of course money never hurts! П˜‰ I’m trying to find time to blog and show some reports using the competitive analysis features next since this post only highlighted the tracking piece.

• # 18 wrote on. Hi Joe, Sort of an apples to oranges comparison. Depends on the primary features you need. If you need something primarily for lead gen then Power Leads Pro X may be a better choice right now.

(Not endorsing have not used and don’t know anything about it.) But email option is coming to Scout soon FYI. I NEVER DO LEAD GEN – all my clients come to me so I don’t have a need to do any prospecting. So my primary needs are to help clients rank better and track rankings which Scout does really well. Not sure about Power Leads Pro X. Does it do rank tracking over time?

Save reports? Show the different types of ranking? (Pack vs blended vs organic) I think it’s more just about lead gen right?

• # 30 dave wrote on. • Google My Business • • • • I'm an experienced web marketing consultant, but have to admit, l learned a lot from my info packed Google+ Local Optimization training with Linda. (SEO Consultant) • 'Linda goes above and beyond for her students, teaching the ins and outs of local SEO. Both of Linda's trainings were excellent and covered material I haven't seen taught anywhere else.' (Marketing Agency) • Google Local Resources • • • • • • • • More Reviews • After a diligent fight with Google Places bugs, Linda got us a DOUBLE #1 ranking. #1 organic AND #1 (Letter A) in the blended results. (Happy Dentist in Virginia) • I couldn't believe my results!

Went from #44 to #1 (Chiropractor Washington) • #1 Google Maps Expert Out There! I am Howard G. And I am a dentist with a private practice. The results as I expected are fantastic.

(Dentist PA) • DENTISTS • • • CHIROPRACTORS • • • Consultation w/ Linda •.