Google has been pushing the local maps Google Place tags. They have been giving them away for free for a month, but requiring users to enter their billing information and cancel within 30 days to not be charged.
The thing is, there are many business confused on how to cancel. I spotted several threads at Google Places Help, but I'll link to one, with people complaining they can't figure out how to cancel the ads and stop Google from charging them the $25 per month.
Again, to get the free Google Place tags trial you must enter in your billing information. I have screen shots on that process here and here. But during that process, Google does describe "Your credit card will be charged at the end of every month. The charge for this Tag is $25 per month. You can deactivate your Tag at any time from your dashboard. If you deactivate, you will be charged a prorated amount for the month. You can also reactivate at any time."
How do you deactivate your tag? Google says:
If you decide to stop running your tag for any reason, you can do so by viewing your tag in your Google Places account and clicking “Deactivate Tag”. We'll charge you a prorated amount for the portion of the month that the tag was running.
Google has not yet replied to any of the concerns in the Google Places Help thread.
Forum discussion at Google Places Help.
