It would be very useful if agencies could use their own ranking provider or import externally calculated ranking measurements into the Local Search Grid.
We currently measure regional Google Maps visibility using Google Places Text Search (New) with our own Google API key. Each measurement contains:
Google Place ID
Keyword
Measurement-point latitude and longitude
Measurement date and time
Ranking position
Number of returned results
Data provider
We would like to import these measurements into EMR and use the existing Local Search Grid timeline, reports and client dashboards to track development over time.
Ideally, EMR could support one or both of the following options:
Allow agencies to select Google Places Text Search as an alternative ranking provider to DataForSEO through BYOK.
Add a REST API endpoint for importing external ranking observations, for example:
place_id, keyword, latitude, longitude, measured_at, rank, result_depth, and provider.
The important requirement is methodological consistency. If the initial analysis uses Google Places ranking data but later tracking uses DataForSEO, the results may not be directly comparable. Supporting external observations would allow agencies to use the same measurement method for the initial baseline and all future development reports.
This could also make EMR’s Local Search Grid more flexible for agencies that already operate their own ranking infrastructure while still using EMR for scheduling, historical comparisons, reports and client dashboards.
