Private Instance Pointers and Updates for Non-Agencies

Local Brand Manager has made significant progress this week, especially as many of our users have now established their private instances. However, a few more users are facing some challenges that need to be cleared up before they are fully onboarded. To address the latter category of users, we are going over some recurring complaints and finding solutions for you to overcome them.

For users who were either denied API access or those who don’t qualify for it because they are business owners or they aren’t an agency or working for one, here’s are some updates:

We are currently collaborating with some industry colleagues to address this problem by leveraging some existing infrastructure and employing a tested platform. We require new API access to get this platform on its feet, similar to everyone setting up their private instance. The software is ready for working, and waiting to be used. We are hoping to onboard everyone soon.

Google Business Profile has put up a public notice stating they won’t accept any more API applications until August 2, or Monday of this week. We have submitted our application and are now waiting for an approval email. We will keep you updated as soon as that happens.

All of your account information has been preserved. Your login and password will work. You will have the same number of GeoGrid and keyword credits. Your previous GeoGrid searches have been saved, and you will be able to review them. The settings for your reports will be the same, because all of that information is saved as well, along with your post history and posts that are scheduled for the future. Essentially, you will have the same experience you had on Local Brand Manager, with a nearly identical layout.

All users who are eligible for a private instance are encouraged to go ahead. Private instances offer all kinds of benefits including protection from blackouts like we just experienced because of another person’s actions. Private instances also offer personalized pages with your domain and logo.

Common Issues While Setting Up Private Instances

Some of the common issues that users have experienced when setting up their private instances have come to our attention. Our recommendations to address those problems include:

Doing things in the right order by first choosing a subdomain that you’d like to have your private instance on. After setting a CNAME record for it, sign out of Local Brand Manager (localbrandmanager.com) and sign in to your account from the white label domain. You can then reconnect your Google account.

Some users have had issues with reconnecting their Google accounts. This may be attributed to a faulty connection with the Google Business Profile API. Access may have not been granted despite an email that says that. Visit the Google Business Profile API page to fill their support form if the issue persists.

It’s important to put things in your own words, but for the issue summary, which will effectively show up as an email subject line when it reaches the Google Business Profile team, should say something like “trouble connecting to the API.”

Here’s a brief template on how to explain things in your support email to the GBP team; “I received a confirmation email from Google that approved my access to the GBP API, I set a project up, and created OAuth keys for my application. Unfortunately, when I try to interact with the GBP API and receive data from my Google Account, I encounter an error. In effect, it seems like I do not have API access. Please help me sort this out.”

Sending an email to the GBP team has been effective so far with as high as a 100% success rate. However, some more people have complained of being met with a 404 or 403 error.

Local Brand Manager will continue to bring helpful information to address any issues you may experience.