Google Becoming Slightly More Transparent About Nuking Reviews
Historically at Google Local, if a review triggered the spam filter, the reviewer would still see the review associated with the business if they were logged in and other users would not. The reviewer would have no clue as to why the review wasn’t showing. This “technique” for handling “spammy” reviews led to many, many […]
NY State AG Brings Down the Hammer on Fake Reviews (Again)
The NY Times is reporting that the NY State Attorney General will be announcing a crackdown today against 19 NY based companies, both SMBs and “reputation management” firms, for posting fake reviews online. The companies will pay fines totaling $350,000 and agree to cease to the practice. “Among those signing the agreements are a charter […]
Reviews And Lawsuits – Is There a Better Way?
Yelp received a lot of attention in the online world last week for suing a bankruptcy lawyer (who had previously sued them and won) for leaving fake reviews. Suing a single practitioner may have some value in terms of the publicity and alerting businesses to the risks of creating fake reviews. But given the scale of […]
10 Questions To Ask Before You Hire a Customer Review Management Service
I have been doing a bit of work in the reputation management space as of late, and the subject of customer review management comes up a lot. There are probably hundreds of review management services out there, and it’s difficult to understand what makes one better than the other. With that in…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
FightMe the Competitors’ Social Network – a Review
FightMe.com – the competitor’s social network a review by Sarah Bradley for State of Search. FightMe is an exciting new social network based on the idea of rivalry, Sarah gives her insight on usability, appeal and whether a network like this can one day compete with the likes of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Post from Sarah Bradley on State of Search
FightMe the Competitors’ Social Network – a Review
In Search of The Purchased Google Review. Yours for $1.40 ea.
Last night I went in search of the purchased Google review. I was curious what the high ranking results were for phrases like buy Google reviews and how much a review would cost. Far and away the most compelling was from the number 1 ranked exact match domain: buygooglereviews.com. Reviews started at $2 each when […]
Google Testing Review Distribution Charts for G+ Page
Mary-Kelly Gabriel of ADP Digital Marketing Solutions Group pointed out a new feature that Google seems to be testing (or perhaps rolling out): A review star distribution chart. I had noticed this feature the other day but before I could do a screen capture, it had disappeared. It seems odd to me that they would […]
Need Help Getting Reviews? Its only $299/mo and a ‘little’ cheating
Google, in their ever increasing focus on reviews, has created a marketplace where abuse of their review system has economic rewards. This is not new but the companies working in the space getting reviews at any cost have become somewhat more sophisticated in circumventing Google’s filters and refining their pitch. And for as many opportunistic […]
How Many Reviews to Get the Star Treatment? Somewhere Between 4 and 5
Eagle eyed Phil Rozek of Local Visibility pointed out this example of a business with 4 reviews that is showing the new star treatment in the main search result for jewelry boston: I thought that odd as previously it had seemed that 5 reviews was the limit to get the star treatment. Well it is odd. […]
Love-Hate Relationship? Zagat Brand Gets Increasing Visibility in 5-Star Carousel
I did not notice this before but as the new Local Carousel takes on the 5-Star treatment, it appears that the Zagat brand is taking on a higher profile or at least its Z is. This seems odd to me given Google’s move away from the Zagat rating system and having laid off all of their temporary […]
Google’s 5-(orange) Stars Spreading Internationally, to Adwords & Rich Snippets
More folks are reporting the visibility of the 5-Star system on the main search results that Google has been rolling out. I am seeing them at work in Chrome on my Mac but not in Safari or Firefox and I am still not seeing them at home. There were also reports of them being seen […]
First Reports of 5-Stars Returning to the Main Search Results
The last bastion of Zagat has finally been breached and reports are showing up of 5 Stars returning to the main search results page in the Pack. Poster Valesence shared her sighting of the new display at the LocalSearchForum. Google announced the return to the 5-Star system in mid-May at the I/O Conference, along with the […]
Google Local & Review Scams – A Simple Solution
Local scams involving Google are like dipthera on dog feces, very common. Whether it’s the hundreds of companies trading off of Google’s name, fake Google plaques, selling reviews, a company implying that they are Google and want to help you claim your listing or claiming to be able to rank you first because of a special direct relationship […]
Google Local Adds New Troubleshooter to Move Reviews When a Business Relocates
Google has announced in the forums their ability and willingness to now move reviews when a business has moved locations and to remove reviews with significant brand changes for a given location. The request by the business to do so is done via a new troubleshooter. The guidelines that will apply to requests to move […]
Some Tidbits from Google’s Rollouts Yesterday
The weird stuff from yesterday has come into clearer focus. New Maps, Back to the Future on Review Rating Stars (although red this time), New G+ (argh)….but here are some tidbits that might make all of the once and future changes a tad more understandable: The new Google Maps is currently available by invite only. […]
Access Your Local G+ Page with the New 5 Star Treatment
The new local result list display that was discovered today makes more sense when viewed in context of the newly updated Maps. Select the “Go to list of top results” link from the refinement pane and you will arrive at the new page. For those of you that don’t have access to the new Maps view […]
Google Local Returns to a 5 Star System In New Maps
Along with a total revamp of Maps, Google has announced at I/O, the forum and their blog the return to a 5 star review system. You can request an invite to the new Maps here. From their blog post: Users who opt-in to the new Google Maps will now rate businesses on a scale that ranges […]
Book Review: Webs of Influence
A review of the book ‘Webs of Influence’ by Nathalie Nahai. A short overview and why you should read and who it is for
Post from Bas van den Beld on State of Search
Book Review: Webs of Influence
Google Local Bug: Review/Plus Pages Not Loading For SAB Pages
Laura Behny of Attaboy Plumbing and at least one poster in the forums have noted what appears to be a new bug when clicking on the the “Google reviews” link in the pack results. Either a blank page is delivered or these very weird results are shown instead of the local G+ Page. It is […]
Creating and Managing Deadlines for Outreachers
Looking back on my greenhorn Outreach days, I was a bright-eyed and spiky-haired marketer who learned as I went. In my last two posts, The Scouting Report for Link Building Rookies and Think Beyond the Link – The Right Way Continue reading »