Two-thirds of big business listings contain inaccurate information
Today, desktop and mobile devices are the key ways consumers look up information about a business, whether it’s a restaurant, retailer, service provider or bank. Yet, according to Yext’s survey of 2,000 consumers in the UK during October, 2016, eight in ten consumers said they had encountered incorrect information about a business when searching online. Nearly half (43.2%) said this happened often.
A third (34%) said that the information that was most often incorrect was opening hours, and a similar number said inaccuracies were often found in products and services information.
When Yext scanned business listings across the UK, they found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of large businesses had incorrect data listed online, as did a similar percentage of smaller businesses (67%). A third of large businesses had incorrect telephone numbers listed.
“Consumers rely on mobile search to get the information they need quickly, and they expect it to be reliable. Our research has shown that businesses with out of date location information online are risking their relationships with customers and their revenue,” said Jon Buss, Managing Director for UK and Northern Europe at Yext. “Our research shows that UK businesses are falling behind the US, with twice as many incidents of incorrect information displayed, so they need to address this issue urgently.”
Most consumers believe that the responsibility for listing accurate information lies with the businesses themselves (49%) while 20% believe it to be the responsibility of the search engine or app via which they found the information.