If you don’t know already it is very important to setup your local business listing on local and mainstream search engines. Well since Bing came out I thought I would go there and get StepForth’s listing. So I visited the Bing Local Listing Center and tried to add my company’s local listing but I ran into an annoying wall a little ways into the process that was a real let down; they didn’t bother to tell me that only the USA is supported at the moment.

January 30th, 2013 Update: Great news! You can now add your Canadian business easily and free to Bing Local via Nokia.

If you are in the USA the process to get your local listing is straight forward – at least as far as I got. Just go to the Bing Local Listing Center and log in with your Microsoft Passport (or create one) and if the system does not find a current listing it will allow you to create one. Well StepForth does not have one yet according to their system so I was directed to the listing local listing creation page. When I got to the creation page and began to fill out the submission form I was rebuffed by a big pet peeve of mine… the system knew I was Canadian (it is noted in the header of the page) and yet the only way to add a listing was to enter a State and Zip (see screenshot).

Bing's local listing center needs some forethought - a screenshot of the issues I had as a Canadian user.

I realize this is a nitpicky post but I am fed up with oversights in this regard. I mean how hard can it be to say “I am sorry but Bing Local Listings is not supporting Canada right now – click here to be notified when it becomes available” instead of finding out later on that it only supports the States? Thankfully the form is not long, so I don’t discover this fact after entering a ton of information, which I have experienced all too often. Come on Microsoft! Get with it!

Mini-rant complete. Thank you for listening.

Getting a Business Listing in Bing Canada – Update – July 2nd, 2010

Hi everyone, when I was at SMX Advanced a few weeks back I spoke with Eric Gilmore from Bing and asked him what was happening with Bing Canadian listings. Unfortunately, his answer was not positive. What I interpreted from his round-about explanation was Canada would only have access at the same time the rest of the world was and that it was all a matter of priorities (they are focused on a new roll out of Bing Webmaster Tools right now). That said, he was sure we would be happy when it did come – gee thanks. A VERY displeasing answer in my opinion, but it is what it is. – Ross Dunn

Article History: Originally posted June 26, 2009
Update #1: July 2, 2010