I am seeing reports of business owners and local SEOs saying they are seeing a new category being added to some of the business listings they manage. The category is called POI Establishment and folks are confused what this is about, espesially because it can be mixed with their real categories, like barber shop, hair salon, etc.
I personally see it myself when I login to my Google My Business account, here is a screen shot:
There are threads about this at both the Local Search Forums and Google My Business Help forums and no one has seen it before.
Some are thinking that when you get this category, when you look at the Google Maps screen, it might list that listing as a point of interest. One says the Android developer docs says "By default, points of interest (POIs) appear on the base map along with their corresponding icons. POIs include parks, schools, government buildings, and more. In addition, business POIs appear by default on the map when the map type is normal. Business POIs represent businesses such as shops, restaurants, hotels, and more. Business POIs on indoor maps (floor plans) appear only on a lite mode map. A POI corresponds to a place, as defined in the Places API. For example, recreational parks are POIs, but things like water fountains are generally not POIs (unless they're of national or historic significance)."
I am not sure if this is a bug or something else but I guess we will keep an eye on how Google responds to the influx of the POI Establishment category being added to some Google My Business listings.
Forum discussion at Local Search Forums and Google My Business Help.
