Which Data Syncs to Listings | Yext Hitchhikers Platform

What You’ll Learn

In this section, you will learn:

• Which data syncs to Listings
• How to adjust Publisher Configuration settings

Which Data gets Synced

As you now know, each publisher has its own set of rules, including which fields it will allow business owners to update. On some sites, all data elements on a listing can be managed via the business owners, while others will choose to source information from other data sources like Government-certified databases. Yext’s integrations with each individual publisher advocate for the maximum control for business owners.

Publisher Exporters are not just specific to each endpoint, but to each entity type accepted by that endpoint. For example, Yext sends data to Facebook for many types of Entities — like locations, restaurants, doctors, and events. For each of these types, we have a unique set of fields that are synced to Facebook.

We think about the data in a few different categories:

• Core Data — these are the fields that are typically required for all publishers of that entity type. For example, for Locations, this is things like Name, Address, Phone and Category. For Events, this is things like Name, Location, and Start/End Date/Time.
• Enhanced Data — this is additional data that will enhance your consumer’s experience on the site, but you shouldn’t be blocked from syncing if you don’t have this information available. While we always recommend filling out as much content as possible, you can still sync your listings without this data. Some control is better than none.
• Publisher Specific Data - this is data that goes only to one specific publisher based on specific content that they accept and display. This is reserved for the biggest publishers, like Google and Facebook, and includes things like Cover Photos or Calls to Action.
• Verticalized Data — this is additional data available for certain Entity Types like “Accepting new patients” for Healthcare types, Amenity data for Hotels, and Menus for Restaurants. Verticalized data can be represented as just a few additional fields on the entity or can be additional entity types entirely (like Menus or Hotel Room Types).

To view the fields that are available for you to manage for each type, click Content in the navigation bar and click Entities. Then click on your desired entity. All fields that you see can be managed with the service you purchased. Some additional fields may be surfaced as you upgrade packages, like Menu Syncing.

Publisher Configuration

Sometimes there are circumstances where you don’t want to sync a field to a publisher. Yext provides the ability to override the data being sent to, omit specific fields from being sent to, or change the overwrite behavior of certain fields on key publishers like Facebook, Google, and Yelp through the Publisher Configuration.

We believe that our brands and their end consumers are best-served by the most complete profiles possible. That said, we are always considering and may extend the Publisher Configuration functionality depending on customer demand and Publisher considerations.

Note: These settings are account-wide and cannot vary by folder or entity.

Turning Off Field Syncing

For example, if your franchisees are managing the Google Cover Photos directly in Google Business Profile, you can choose to stop syncing the field from Yext for your account.

If you do choose to stop syncing a field, we will not clear out the field, it will remain as-is, but we will no longer be sending updates to that field.

As a whole, we generally don’t recommend turning off field syncing and would only reserve this feature for extenuating circumstances. It’s a best practice to manage all of your data centrally since Publishers that have their own business portals, like Google, don’t have the same flexible user access controls as Yext. If you want franchisees to control their Cover Photo, we recommend providing your franchisees with access to Yext and creating a Custom Role that allows them to only update the fields specified, or even turn on Content Approvals if you want to be extra cautious.

Syncing to A Different Field

At times, you might want to send a different field than the standard profile field. While this is built-in for some circumstances, like having unique Cover Photo fields for Facebook and Google or the Google Website Override field, we also have the ability to override this in our backend.

For example, if you want to sync a bespoke Description to Yelp that is different from the Description that you’re syncing to the rest of the Network. You can do this by selecting another field — either another built-in field of the same type that already exists, or a Custom Field that you create specifically to sync out to the site.

Note

Want to have a unique tracking code for Google? You’re not alone! You can adjust the mapping of the Google URL fields so we can sync the field that contains a URL with your tracking code instead of the default Website URL field.

How to Update a Publisher Configuration

You can manage the relevant Publisher Configuration settings by:

1. Click Listings in the navigation bar and click Publishers.
2. Clicking on the desired publisher, either Google Business Profile, Facebook, or Yelp.
3. Clicking on the Configuration tab on the Publisher Details Page.

From there, you can click on the available fields. To stop syncing a field, change the setting from On to Off.

Changing the configuration will trigger an update to the Listings so the site will reflect your settings accordingly once you make this change.

If you’d like to override which field gets synced, select a new field from the drop-down menu under the Mapped Field column. The drop-down will display all fields of that type (for example, if you are updating the website field, you can select from eligible URL type fields including Custom Fields ).

If you are a Partner with a sub-account structure, you will see the option to apply your settings to any sub-accounts. You can then override those for each individual sub-account as desired.