Some of that is Google&#x27;s fault but I place most of the blame on the businesses themselves.<p>I&#x27;d understand it if most of the local businesses that forgo an online presence were all 1-4 person, family operations where they&#x27;re all too old to have a &quot;Google it first&quot; mindset. However the majority of businesses that refuse to register themselves with Google have no excuse. I can search for the closest laundromat, tire shop, florist, etc directly by name and address and the only results will be those sites that scrape the secretary of state&#x27;s corporate filings.<p>Google has made the process of creating an online presence the simplest, most painless process imaginable. Google&#x27;s My Business service gets you on Maps with all the important info (location, hours, services, etc) for free, yet so few businesses take the importance of being a top, location based result. If a business doesn&#x27;t come up in my location based search it&#x27;s as good as if it never existed.