Google formally announced the roll-out of Places Search today; a major change to the Google search engine results page (SERP) that will have an impact on the way people find cigar bars (and other places) on Google, and the methods that cigar bars should use to get the most exposure on Google. They’ll be rolling it out globally over the next few days, so if you’re not seeing it on Google yet, take it for a test drive with this special link.
So how will this impact cigar bars and cigar friendly restaurants that are trying to show up as high as possible when someone types “[city] cigar bar” into Google? First let’s contrast the old SERP with the new Places SERP, then explore the differences.
A search for “denver cigar bars” before Google Places
This SERP features the standard “7-Pack” that Google displays when it detects that a search has a local aspect to it. In the past, cigar bars SEOs/advertisers would be have been focusing their efforts on getting their cigar bar into this 7-pack in order to get the most visibility and ultimately the most foot-traffic in the door.
A search for “denver cigar bars” with Google Places
Conducting the same search after Google Places has been rolled out will yield a slightly different result. In the image above, the map has been moved to the right column (an obvious effect of Places), but the 7-pack still persists. What gives?
It appears as though right now, the query “denver cigar bars” doesn’t have a strong enough local signal to kick Google completely into places-mode. Have a look at the next image to see what I’m referring to.
A search for “denver chiropractors” with Google Places
In this image, we can see the full impact that Google Places has on the SERP. Under the AdWords ads at the top of the page, you can see a number of local listings that have been made to look more like standard organic listings, only with some enhanced information (reviews, address information, logos/pictures).
New Ways to Promote Cigar Bars
So if the 7-pack is dead for some queries, what changes? As we can see from the image above, it becomes even more important to be ranked high in the local results. If being in the top seven was key yesterday, being in the top three is key today (the other four items from the seven pack are now pushed down below the fold on the SERP in the image above). Here are two quick steps to give you a head-start. 1) Make sure that the Places Page for your business is as complete as possible (reviews, website link, phone number, etc). 2) CigarPlaces.com gives you a place to add your website URL when you add your listing to the site. This is free SEO link-juice! Take advantage of it by making sure your URL is there, and correct!
The Affect on CigarPlaces.com and other Directories
Fortunately for CigarPlaces, there still isn’t enough accurate meta-data (descriptive content) surrounding restaurants and bar listings, for Google to be able to provide a search engine results page that is filled with the best cigar bars in the area where you’re searching. This is obvious not only in the fact that our query above for “denver cigar bars” returned a page that didn’t take complete advantage of the new Places feature, but also because the results that were returned aren’t the best (the top result is the Creager Mercantile – a wholesale distributor for convenience shops).
There’s no doubt that Google is committed to improving local search, and the quality of their results. And when they target something, they usually find a way to do it better than anyone out there. But for now, vertically-oriented maps and directories such as Yelp, CigarPlaces, InsiderPages, and UrbanSpoon are still a great source of information and reviews, and a great vehicle for cigar bar advertising.
Every cigar that I’ve lit recently has been paired with the comment: “Man, it’s been a while since I’ve had a cigar.” Whoever I happen to be smoking with is usually quick to agree that their cigar enjoyment has been drastically reduced as well.
It’s no mystery that this is a direct result of the Michigan Smoking Ban that went into effect on May 1st, 2010. It has now been six months since the ban took place, so I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on how it has impacted me (and ask you to add your stories in the comments section).
Before the ban, I would have classified myself as a pretty light smoker when it comes to frequency. A cigar or two each week was enough to keep me happy, and sometimes I’d go a week or two without having one if my schedule got hectic (I know, it’s not a pretty thing to imagine).
Aside from the hectic weeks, my cigar smoking patterns were pretty predictable. There’s a local bar/restaurant about a block from my office with a fantastic outdoor patio area (Kona Grill). When it comes to happy hour in the Northern Detroit Suburbs, this is the place to be. At least once a week you’d find me there with three or four of my friends, each of us leaned back in our chair enjoying a cigar.
On Friday, April 30th, I joined my friends like any other Friday, except this time it was to enjoy one last cigar on the patio and to say goodbye to our weekly tradition. Minutes after we had lit our cigars, a group of women sat down at the table next to us and ordered drinks. After realizing that their nasty glances weren’t having any effect on our good time, they gathered their things and stood up to move to another table. As they walked away, one of them leaned over and said into my ear in her meanest voice, “enjoy it, because tomorrow you won’t be able to.” As a cigar smoker, the comment didn’t surprise me, but the amount of joy that she obviously took in someone’s rights being stripped away did. Tomorrow things would be different.
At the time, I didn’t realize how much the cigar ban would influence my patronage of Kona Grill. After all, the place has a great environment, an awesome happy hour menu, and we were regulars. I should clarify that – I’m not really a “bar guy” (think Norm from Cheers), but we were in this place enough that the managers would come to my table and chat when I was there, and I know most of the waitresses by name.
For a few weeks, we tried to keep up the ritual. We’d circle up, order some sushi and some drinks, the girlfriends would join us, but it wasn’t the same. At one point, one of my friends finally exclaimed, “this place just isn’t the same without a cigar.”
Six months after the ban, we’re lucky if we catch one happy hour per month (I’m obviously not the only one whose behavior change has hurt Michigan bars and restaurants).
Aside from happy hour, my other typically cigar-centric events have also been disrupted. Getting together for a cigar and a few drinks on a Saturday or Sunday to watch a football game isn’t quite the same without the cigar. We still head to a sports bar and watch the game, only now it’s without a cigar. It’s true that we could find a cigar bar in Detroit to watch the game at, but the reality is, we haven’t.
Interestingly enough, my love for a good cigar has been somewhat spared by frequent business trips to Chicago. Ironically, Chicago is also a smoke-free city, but their ban is slightly different. In Chicago, bars and restaurants can allow smoking in outdoor patio areas, and there are a lot of great Chicago Cigar Bars! I can trace the fact that I enjoy a cigar on so many of these trips to the somewhat less-restrictive Chicago smoking ban, the fact that I’m typically traveling with cigar-loving business people, and most likely the fact that I’m out of town, and free from the obligations/chores/requirements that come along with being at home.
Even with these trips, the times that I get to enjoy a cigar each month have been drastically cut short by the smoking ban, and it seems that I haven’t found a good way to compensate for it (going to new cigar bars, etc).
If you have a chance, leave a comment and let us know how life has changed since May 1st.
CigarPlaces.com exists to help cigar lovers find great places around the world to enjoy a cigar. Today we introduced a service that will also hopefully help cigar bar and cigar shop owners get more people through the door.
With well over 10,000 page-views each month, we’re doing a pretty good job of getting the word out about great cigar friendly places.
Now, with the introduction of the Featured Location section on our city and state pages, cigar place owners that are aggressively marketing their locations can take their interactive advertising initiatives a step further.
The Featured Location section is smack at the top of the city and state pages, and we couldn’t think of a way to make it any more attention-grabbing (if you have any ideas on other content to add to the section, I’d love to hear them).
A slot in a Featured Location section runs $50/month, and there’s more information on the advertising page.
Of all of the improvements that have been made to CigarPlaces.com over the years, this may be one of the coolest when it comes to making the site more useful to those of us looking for a cigar friendly bar or restaurant.
View Foursquare Tips on CigarPlaces.com
As of today, when you browse to a cigar friendly place on CigarPlaces.com, you’ll see tips from Foursquare users about the location. The site will also display who the mayor of the location is (the person who has checked in most frequently at the location).
Why is this such a big improvement?
As 
Foursquare’s popularity and user base continues to grow rapidly, it is proving itself to be a useful source of real-time, local information about venues. For example, the venue used in the example to the right (336 Main in Plymouth, Michigan) includes the tips:
- Best early/mid-day patio sun. No food, but you can order carry out from Compari’s, they’ll even deliver it to you on the patio.
- Steve Acho at the piano tonight w/ Karen Newman. Awesome show.
- Hip little martini bar that offers a vast array of martini concoctions and light hors d’oeuvres. free lot nearby (back of establishment).
This is useful stuff! Someone who has never visited 336 Main now knows where to park, when to go, and where they can get some food to compliment their cigar (Compari’s is an extremely good Italian restaurant, btw).
Any time we can get more information about cigar friendly bars and restaurants around the world, we see it as a great improvement.
If you haven’t heard of Foursquare
It’s time to jump on board. Foursquare is a simple smartphone application that allows you to check in to places you visit. Checking in shows your friends (people who you’ve granted access to your profile) where you are at any given time.
Foursquare just raised its latest round of venture capital ($20M) to continue its expansion (according to the WSJ – June 29th, 2010). The service is approaching 1.8 million users, and is continuing to expand rapidly.
Because of the geo-location aspect of the application and the security risks that come along with displaying your location to people, do some research before you start using it and determine what your personal guidelines will be (for example, everyone gets added to my Twitter account, some get added to my Facebook page, a select few get added as Foursquare friends).
What’s the Catch?
As Foursquare’s popularity spreads like wildfire, a lot of people are jumping on the integration bandwagon (like CigarPlaces.com). Because of this, you may experience situations where you pull up a location on CigarPlaces.com and Foursquare information isn’t displayed. We’re getting the data for free, so we can’t complain!
So I realize that for a blog that’s supposed to be dedicated to cigar bars and cigar friendly spots around the world, the posts have been very Michigan-focused recently. For everyone that’s coming here for cigar bar info in other places, I apologize.
There have been a lot of newsworthy incidents leading up to the May 1st ban, and well … it’s where I live, so I’m compelled to write about it.
Last week the exemption in the smoking ban that allows cigar smoking in establishments that meet the required criteria was clarified. There has been a long-running discussion here about whether or not cigar bars would be allowed to sell and serve food and beverages, and the matter has finally been settled.
Last week, a regular contributor to the blog (Mike), uncovered a memo issued by the Michigan Department of Community Health Director Olszewski. Click the image to view the memo.
At least the writers of the law realized that there has to be a way for cigar bar owners to come up with the other 90% of their revenue.
Thanks for digging this up, Mike!
Since the Michigan Smoking Ban was announced last year, there have been a lot of articles written about Robusto’s Martini Lounge in Grosse Pointe, and its exemption from the ban. Even the lounge’s own website states that they’re exempt from the ban and that they’ll allow cigar smoking after May 1st.
Yesterday (April 22nd), I shot down to Grosse Pointe to meet a friend at Robusto’s to catch up over a martini and enjoy a great Padron 4000. I also really wanted to talk to someone there and confirm first-hand that they had an exemption.
There has been a lot of discussion on this blog over the intricacies of the smoking ban and the exemptions that have been issued. Perhaps the most confusing aspect is the serving of food and beverages.
It was my previous assumption that if a bar or restaurant was issued an exemption, they would need to isolate the area where cigars are smoked from the portion of the restaurant/bar where food and alcohol is consumed. Now it seems as though if an exemption is issued, the establishment is exempt from any of the smoking ban’s requirements.
Simply put: If you qualify for all of the criteria required to earn an exemption, none of the rules of the smoking ban apply to you. Not a bad situation, if it ends up to be true.
Many of the places that should be exempt from the smoking ban have separate, walled-off areas for cigar smokers (Fuse in Rochester, Big Rock Chophouse in Birmingham).
This was the most perplexing aspect of the Robusto’s exemption from my perspective. Even if they were only to allow smoking in the upstairs are (where the humidors are), it’s still not a separate room.
After speaking with the people at Robusto’s yesterday evening, they’re quite sure that they’re exempt from the ban. Great news for a location that has been a perfect place for cigar smokers in Detroit to gather for many years.
