Review Stars, Zen and the Art of Local Search
A very brief history: Rich Snippet review stars have had a tough week. Starting last Wednesday I noticed they were missing on a few searches. By Friday, the reports of their disappearance were widespread. Interestingly not all instances of the review stars disappeared, even during the “darkest” hour. Many in the industry were asking about them … Continue reading Review Stars, Zen and the Art of Local Search →
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Apple and the Court of Public Opinion – Do 51% Support the FBI?
Opinion polls are an ever present part of our society. All too often, in the absence of real democracy, they seem to take on the role of the “people’s voice” in public debates. I was fascinated by the recent headline from the Verge declaring More than half of Americans think Apple should comply with FBI, finds … Continue reading Apple and the Court of Public Opinion – Do 51% Support the FBI? →
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Google My Business Categories By Country
With the release of V2 of the Google My Business API, Google simultaneously released categories for each of the 135 countries currently supported by the GMB. I noted it at the time but it was lost in the article but I wanted to be sure that folks so these categories and downloaded them if they needed … Continue reading Google My Business Categories By Country →
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Google MyBusiness Now Surfacing Web Verify Option
If a local business had a website verified in the Google Search Console prior to verifying in Local, Google would on occasion auto verify the local listing without the need for a post card or phone call. Previously this would just happen with no forward facing interface and would often be a surprise. Now, according to … Continue reading Google MyBusiness Now Surfacing Web Verify Option →
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Google MyBusiness Now Surfacing Web Verify Option
If a local business had a website verified in the Google Search Console prior to verifying in Local, Google would on occasion auto verify the local listing without the need for a post card or phone call. Previously this would just happen with no forward facing interface and would often be a surprise. Now, according to … Continue reading Google MyBusiness Now Surfacing Web Verify Option →
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Local U Advanced in Historic Williamsburg – Early Bird Special is Ending
Our spring Local U Advanced in Williamsburg is one of my favorite conferences… its laser focused on Local search, the group is intimate and collegial, the content is state of the art…. And this year, David Mihm claims that the IPAs will be to die for (you won’t be able to tell by me). All … Continue reading Local U Advanced in Historic Williamsburg – Early Bird Special is Ending →
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NY Attorney General Comes Down on Review Abuses – Again
Today, NY attorney General Schneiderman announced a settlement with four companies in regards posting fraudulent content in the form of reviews and pay for play testimonials. Penalties ranged from $20,000 to $50,000 and included both NY and Californian companies. Schneiderman has led the states in enforcement in this area having previously settled similar review abuse cases in the … Continue reading NY Attorney General Comes Down on Review Abuses – Again →
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JC Penny’s Offers $500 Sweepstake Entry for a Review – Is it legal?
My wife is redoing our living room and recently ordered replacement curtains from JC Penny. As you know I also helped create GetFiveStars (although I am not helping with the living room) so anything in regards to reviews gets my attention. I was surprised last week when JC Penny asked me to write a review … Continue reading JC Penny’s Offers $500 Sweepstake Entry for a Review – Is it legal? →
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Video: A Look Back (& Forward) at “The Big 4” in Local
Join Mary bowling, Aaron Weiche and myself at LocalU.org as we discuss the past year and the major directions of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon in Local. What are the trends and how should you respond? The Deep Dive Video Series is a weekly discussion of an important aspect of Local. They are part of … Continue reading Video: A Look Back (& Forward) at “The Big 4” in Local →
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Google Trusted Verifier Program – What is it? Where is it?
Early today at Linda’s forum and the Local U forum it was reported that Google had rolled out a Google Trusted Verifier Program that allowed folks in the field to verify a business while on site, using an Android app. It now appears that the help files were released prematurely and they were all removed … Continue reading Google Trusted Verifier Program – What is it? Where is it? →
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Become a Google Trusted Tester for New GMB/Adwords Products
Google is looking for folks to test upcoming SMB products: The Google My Business and Ads teams are working on several new product features in 2016 to improve overall merchant/advertiser engagement and value. Before releasing these products/features to the general public, we want to beta test them with a group of trusted business testers who … Continue reading Become a Google Trusted Tester for New GMB/Adwords Products →
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Apple Maps Now Testing TripAdvisor and Booking.com Reviews
It appear that Apple, at least in the hotel world, is testing the use of reviews beyond their traditional partner Yelp. AppleInsider reported this morning the appearance of reviews from TripAdvisor and Booking.com on a limited number of hotel listings within Apple Maps. It makes sense that Apple would expand their review partnership beyond Yelp. … Continue reading Apple Maps Now Testing TripAdvisor and Booking.com Reviews →
New Google Support Option Offers A Form to Contest Reviews
One option in the new Contact Us process that appears to be an improvement is elevating a form to contest reviews. The form, previously buried, has in the recent past sent a review removal request into the queued email response system and typically generated a human and intelligent response. This contrasts with the pissing in … Continue reading New Google Support Option Offers A Form to Contest Reviews →
Google My Business Help Now Segments Support Questions Prior to Calling
Google recently upgraded their site wide Help pages with a new material design them and more context sensitive help. Today they have also changed the Contact US option available for My Business listings to attempt to segment certain problems and direct users back to the Help files. Depending on the issue chosen, the user will either … Continue reading Google My Business Help Now Segments Support Questions Prior to Calling →
The Annual Print Yellow Pages Page Count And Other Anomalies
It is that time of year when I usually am beating a dead horse or three. With the arrival of my annual SuperPages Yellow Page Book(let?) I gleefully get out my ruler, Excel and last year’s book to see whether I can once again make fun of lament the decline of the one of Local’s … Continue reading The Annual Print Yellow Pages Page Count And Other Anomalies →
Why Suing Over A Review Is Rarely a Good Idea – The Case Of Dog Tranquility
Dave Oremland sent me a Washington Post article last week detailing a case where small business owner Colleen Dermott of Dog Tranquility in Burke, VA was suing a client for $65,000 that had left bad reviews on Yelp and Angie’s List. She claimed that the client, Jennifer Ujimori, in leaving a bad review had made statements … Continue reading Why Suing Over A Review Is Rarely a Good Idea – The Case Of Dog Tranquility →
Google My Business Improves Contextual Help – Tests Integration of Call Back
It appears that Google is improving access to their Help files from within Google My Business and is apparently testing moving access to phone support directly into the GMB dashboard. Apparently, in checking with international friends, this feature is currently US only. This is a screen shot of the new Help panel from within GMB … Continue reading Google My Business Improves Contextual Help – Tests Integration of Call Back →
Yext PowerListing Scoring Gets Worse When Listing Gets Better?
Yext Power Listing tool has often been useful to me to find bad NAP. I would caution others though that it is primarily a selling tool not a diagnostic one. And one that seems to be manipulated to increase your sense of discomfort EVEN when there is improving NAP. By Yext’s measures 18 Listings improved, … Continue reading Yext PowerListing Scoring Gets Worse When Listing Gets Better? →
FTC Staff Findings Contradict 2013 Antitrust Decision
Inside the U.S. Antitrust Probe of Google is a look by the Wall Street Journal at the FTC staff report inadvertently released to them under a FOIA request. The staff findings “concluded that Google’s conduct has resulted—and will result—in real harm to consumers and to innovation in the online search and advertising markets.” That is … Continue reading FTC Staff Findings Contradict 2013 Antitrust Decision →
Yelp – The Story that Won’t Die
The Bold Italic is reporting on a film maker that is attempting to tell the Yelp is a bully story via a documentary. Yelp gets zero stars in an upcoming documentary by local filmmaker Kaylie Milliken. Her film, Billion Dollar Bully (which is halfway done, according to the International Business Times) focuses on complaints from restaurant owners about Yelp’s … Continue reading Yelp – The Story that Won’t Die →