Navigating the new ‘Google My Business’ Places Dashboard
Navigating the new ‘Google My Business’ Places Dashboard When Google My Business hit our computer screens mid-June it was an overnight change for many accounts. Minds were understandably boggled. For those who manage Google Places and Google Plus accounts, the new dashboard we saw come into play last year was bittersweet for many due to […]
Post from Sarah Bradley on State of Digital
Navigating the new ‘Google My Business’ Places Dashboard
Authorship Photos – Sayonara, It was nice to know you
In case you are living under an SEO rock or this is the only blog you are reading, John Mueller announced the end of author photos: We’ve been doing lots of work to clean up the visual design of our search results, in particular creating a better mobile experience and a more consistent design across […]
Google Promoting My Business from the Front Page
Phil Rosek pointed out that Google is now promoting, worldwide, My Business to SMBs from the front page of search on both desktop AND mobile devices with a slick campaign to get more locations signed up for….not for Plus page… … but for My Business benefits: Being found in search Connecting and communicating with customers Ease of […]
Google My Business iPhone App Now Available
The last leg of the cross platform rollout of My Business is complete- Google announced that Apple just made the iPhone My Business app in the App Store. With this release Google now gives the SMB the ability to access My Business from the desktop, Android or iPhone. The iOS app (available hereL http://goo.gl/Df7kxX) and the Android app (available […]
Google Enters Domain Reselling for SMBs
Google announced today that they are entering the domain registration space with a limited test of the product. Here is the full announcement from the Google + Your Business page: It’s 2014 and it seems obvious, but across laptops, tablets and mobile devices, a website is one of the first places people go to find information […]
What does My Business Tell Us About the Future of Google Plus?
The recent rollout of Google My Business provides an interesting view port into the future of Plus. It is the first public major rollout in Local since Larry Page took the helm and since the introduction of Google Plus three years ago. We can see in this product the widespread use of Plus features but […]
Google Carousel Now Appearing on Results for “People Also Searched For”
Kerry Fager pointed out a recent post by Alex Cordes where he noted that the Local Carousel was showing for searches on professionals when you clicked through to the “People Also Searched For” results at the bottom of any given Knowledge Panel. It appears that this expanded display of the carousel is happening on almost […]
Google My Business – Let’s Not Stop Here – My Wish List for Upgrades
Google’s recent My Business rollout puts a very strong product in the hands of the SMB – mobile social posting to business pages, additional social analytics, easy to update local information. It finally solves most of the issues that have haunted Local since 2011. If it isn’t obvious I think it is a well done, […]
Google My Business – A Brand, A Portal, A Platform – Places Makes it to the Promised Land
Today, Google is rolling out Google My Business – a significant small business upgrade to Google Places and Plus. After multiple years of struggle in upgrading Places and merging local into Plus, Google is finally nearing the point where they have a solid platform addressing the needs of small businesses. My Business is currently rolling out world […]
New Google Direct Answer Type: YouTube Video?
Brian Alaway of Brian Alaway Consulting has spotted what appears to be a new YouTube Video Knowledge Graph direct answer type inserted at the top of the serps. Google has been rapidly adding these direct answer knowledge graph results to top of the search results over the past few months. They have added Menus, Geometry Answers, […]
Google Adds ABility to Upgrade G+ Brand Pages to G+ Local Pages
Google has announced today in the forums the ability to upgrade Branded G+ Pages to Local G+ Pages. Read all of the details at the LocalU Blog: Google Now Allows Brand Pages to Become Google+ Local Pages. Additional details: Google For Business Forum post Help Center Files
Google Paid “Dealers Nearby” Appears to Have Gone Live
This is old news to some but interesting to me. Last week, while I was in Hungary, Dr. Pete reported on Twitter that Google’s new paid ads that appear in car knowledge graph panels has gone live. It is a dramatic presentation on the desktop. And even more so on mobile. Will Google soon be […]
How Many Businesses Have Verified G+ Pages for Local?
While at SIINDA conference, Google was an obvious point of reference and conversation both in the formal sessions and the informal discussions afterwords. One number that was bandied about was the total number of currently verified local business listings worldwide. While I have no way to independently verify the number of 20 million verified listings, as Google […]
Some Thoughts on the YP industry & Google in Europe
I am just returning from the SIINDA conference in Budapest. SIINDA is the newly formed association born out of the combined efforts of the EASDP, the European Association of Search and Database Publishers (YPs), and EIDQ, the Association for the Directory Information. Most of the attendees at the conference were Yellow page companies that were […]
Google Bulk Being Upgraded to Google Plus Capability
Nicolai Helling of the United Digital Group is reporting on Google Plus the upgrade of the Bulk Upload to allow multiple administrators. Apparently this upgrade will add full social functionality as well (the link from the help file is currently not working). Manage access to your locations by adding and removing managers and transferring location ownership – New! Make updates and posts to your […]
Google Mobile Search Results for Hotels, Restaurant and Other Entertainment Locations Updated
Google announced yesterday that mobile searchers would now be able to filter restaurant results more effectively. It appears that the mobile display for restaurants and hotels has also been updated and hotels also offer a filtering option. These new results are also showing for museums, music venues and amusement parks. The list of location types […]
Google Review Snippets – Hall of Shame Favorites
Front page, full sentence Google review snippets are in full swing and I can’t take my eyes off of them. I have spent more time than I should looking for front page examples of smb armageddon. And I am finding them even on more highly rated businesses. And they can certainly add “color”. Its still not […]
Google Review Snippets – More Impactful by Half
With the rollout of review sentiment snippets to the Knowledge Panel in Local search, Google has again elevated reviews another notch in their visibility and impact. These “review synopses” are not just more visible but in being just one sentence and clearly highlighted they are more capable of having greater affect on the reader. In the previous incarnation of sentiment snippets (still extant on […]
Good News, Bad News in the Apple Mapping & Business Listing World
A client, having re-located to a new sub division, contracted with me early last spring to get their new street “on the map” and to clean their NAP. Google, with the help of Dan Austin (a partner on the project) picked up the new streets in about 2 weeks and went live to Maps immediately […]
Using Google Reviews On Your Website
The question often comes up whether a business can and should use their Google & Yelp reviews on their website. Leaving aside the value to the user experience for a minute, I was curious about the legal issues involved. A small business would be foolish to use those reviews if the costs of litigation, however […]