Category: Google+ Local

TL;DR – Really long I know this is the moment you have all been waiting for. Just how long can a name in Google My Business be? Well Jeffrey Magner of BigHorn Local SEO in Sisters, OR took the challenge to answer that burning question and he used his own listing as the guinea pig. …

The post Google Local Spam Hall of Fame: Just How Long Can a Google My Business Name Be? first appeared on Mike Blumenthal.

After several days of heated competition, the judges are pleased to announce the winners of the Google Local Hall of Fame Name Abuse competition. As a reminder there were two categories to determine the longest name: Longest Name in the Wild (winner wi…

Yesterday I challenged the community to: 1- Find a business with a name (spammy or not) that is longer than 171 characters 2- Determine exactly how long name spam can be The Contestants so Far On Twitter, Brandon Schmidt submitted a solid contender, weighing in at 204 characters. Although as he points out “if they …

The post Google Local Spam Hall of Fame: Game Going first appeared on Mike Blumenthal Consulting.

Sometimes even I have my breath taken away by the ability of law firms to attempt to manipulate the Google Local algo but this name (spam? hey maybe this is their name, who knows?) raises the bar for everyone. Just how bad is it? Well there are lots of…

Every week I look forward to my work at LocalU and Near Media. Be sure to catch the article on Yelp. As a reminder, the FeedBurner email feed of my posts is going away soon. If you want to follow my writing subscribe to the Near Media Newsletter where …

It’s been a busy week with lots of podcasts, an article and a minor disagreement with Rand Fishkin. 🙂 Articles: How Google Came to Dominate Local Reviews – Google owns the local review economy. It wasn’t always that way. I detail how it happened by documenting the review history of a large(wish) fast, casual chain. …

The post Mike B Out in the Wilds of the Internet first appeared on Mike Blumenthal.

As a reminder, the FeedBurner email feed of my posts is going away. I would suggest that if you want to follow my writing that you subscribe to the Near Media Newsletter where I am joining David Mihm and Greg Sterling to focus on local search, social a…

I have been busy since I left my full time employ at GatherUp.com. I have been doing my consulting again, helping with two new companies, Leadferno & Near Media AND writing. I am also still doing the LocalU Last Week in  Local. But none of it here. As a note, if you are following me …

The post Mike B Around the Web and Around the World – An Update first appeared on Mike Blumenthal.

Last Tuesday, February 2nd, was a big news day for Amazon. Everyone read the headlines that Bezos was moving on up to Chairman of the Board in the 3rd quarter. The stock market responded positively and the news of the change and the story gained widespread traction with Google showing 44,500,000 articles on the topic: …

The post Amazon “Misappropriates” News Cycle (Oh.. and $61.7 Mil of Tips) first appeared on Mike Blumenthal.

Over the weekend, my mobile devices are all seeing a new 3-pack with a carousel display for the images within the pack. The new 3-Pack Carousel is showing for packs that are typically shopping related (jewelry, car dealers etc) but not for those packs that are service focused like lawyers or locksmiths. The carousel includes … Continue reading Google Testing New 3-Pack Carousel →

As noted by John Gruber, sometimes the pen can send a mighty message. Or rather in this case, a paint brush. Yesterday (Friday), The Mayor of DC declared part of a street that runs near the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza”, inaugurating the new plaza with giant yellow letters and a brand-new street sign. … Continue reading Google Maps Updated to Include Black Lives Matter Plaza →

I was thinking about New York City today. For a million personal and historic reasons, when I think about NYC my mind goes to bialys. Not just any bialy. But the world’s best bialys, the ones by Kossars.1 A bialy2 for the non-iniate is best described as a bagel with character although it really isn’t … Continue reading The World’s Best Bialys and Local Search’s Worst Nightmare – Robots.txt →

Google My Business Websites, first released publicly in June of 2017, has passed 36 million sites created and continues on a strong upward trend. From the beginning, GMB Websites has seen strong growth, passing a million sites built within the first 6 months and really taking off,  passing 10 million sites built by the fall … Continue reading Google My Business Websites Pass 36 Million Created – Why Should You Care? →

Google has begun rolling out their Business Provider program to replace the Trusted Verifier Program that was recently terminated.  The Business Provider program is designed to let organizations like Chambers of Commerce or banks with small business clients facilitate a Google My Business Verification for their members or clients.  Groups or organizations share business data with … Continue reading Google Rolls Out Business Provider Plan to Replace Trusted Verifier Program →

On mobile, Google is showing a new image based search interface to supplement local keyword searches that show local results based on an image matching the search query. The new mobile focused search method does not yet appear on the desktop. It is not clear how permanent this new feature is but it is interesting … Continue reading New Google Local Discovery: Search by Photos →

I seem to be hooked into Google’s test servers these days as I am seeing a lot of tests that include the good, the bad and the very ugly of local search tests. As well as the occasional WFT? In this most recent test, Google has taken the larger call to action and the suggested … Continue reading Google Local Tests Continue With New CTA and Related Searches →

We have long noted that you rent but don’t own your business profile at Google. As Tim Capper has previously pointed out that is no more true than with the careless scraping of event sites that Google pulls off to add events to local search results.  You do though, just have to wonder when the … Continue reading Want to Protest SeaWorld? Visit their Knowledge Panel for Details →

Google always tests a lot and for some reason I have been seeing a number of these tests on one of my accounts on my iPhone. Changes in the layout of the mobile branded result were spotted by Joy in June. Here is another albeit an obvious test as I am only seeing on one … Continue reading Google Local Testing Splitting CTA’s From Main Business Profile on Mobile →

My nephew and his fiancee recently moved back to Buffalo NY from San Francisco. Their dream was to help create and foster the art scene in the reviving Buffalo urban culture. So they created the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (aka BICA)1.  They bought some gallery space and put up a somewhat inadequate  SquareSpace website2. … Continue reading Google Local Events: Immersive Experience or Endless Loop? →

Yesterday, I was doing some spam research and noticed that in Safari, when clicking the More Places link at the bottom of the desktop 3-Pack it was taking me into Maps.  Thinking it a temporary glitch I switched to Chrome and the behavior was normal and it took me into the Local Finder.  Today, both … Continue reading Is Google Sunsetting the Local Finder in Favor of Google Maps? →