Google SAB Update: Service Area Now Displaying in Knowledge Panel

I don’t search on service area businesses very often. But doing client work today I did and I noticed that for the first time that service areas are prominently displayed in the local branded knowledge panel. I have no idea when this was implemented but it indicates that Google has increasing trust in the data […]

Google+ Custom URLs – Facts, Tidbits and Concerns

Google rolled out a series of new photographic tools on Tuesday that they hoped would make them as cool as Apple but it seems that all folks are talking about is the new “custom” URLs at Google Plus. Here are a number of factoids, observations & issues in relation to the latter: “Custom” is a […]

Google Local SERP Results Change Again

Last Thursday, Google shifted the pack display (Blended Results) from mostly blended with large pins to the smaller pin display (Map Packs) with locally driven ranking (ie Maps order) rather than organic driven ranking. Last night they switched (thanks to Nicolai Helling) the display of the pack back to a larger pinned display. So far at least, Google has […]

Did Hummingbird Just Kill Your Local SEO Strategy?

Let’s cut to the chase: no, it didn’t (see Betteridge’s Law of Headlines). But Search Engine Land tells me the Hummingbird stuff really drives the page views these days, so you only have yourself to blame. :) That said, Google’s Hummingbird algorithm, along with all of the…

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Google Upgrades Self Serve Offers with Performance Based Pricing, Improved Distribution and a Simpler Interface

Yesterday Google has once again announced an upgrade to their their self serve Offers product. Ok that isn’t that interesting in itself given the long (it is almost as old as I am) and mostly invisible history of Google’s couponing product but there are some interesting aspects to this upgrade. Besides an easier, slicker to […]

Google Testing New Local Listing “About Page” Layout – Just What are They Thinking?

Google is testing a new enhanced “card” layout for the About page on local listings. The new layout, visible to me in Firefox only, was pointed out by Mary Kelly Gaebel of ADP. The big difference is that the page now can be displayed in either a single, two or three column layouts depending on browser […]

LocalU Odds and Ends

Lot’s has been happening at LocalU. We have an advanced LocalU coming up Monday in NYC that has just 5 seats left. If you do sign up be sure to use the discount code WS-LUA10 for 10% off. If you are already signed up be sure to reach out to me and introduce yourself. We […]

New Countries Added to Places for Business Category Tool – Volunteers Needed

We have just upgraded the Google Places Category tool with categories for the new dashboard from: UK – United Kingdom contributed by Andrew Loy, Occupancy Marketing NL  – Netherlands contributed by Eduard de Boer (Netherlands) FR  – France contributed by Ken Fagan Aus  – Austria contributed by Petra Kraft IT – Italy contributed by Andrea Scarpetta CA – Canada contributed by Darren Shaw […]

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 […]

Upgraded Google Places for Business Dashboard Listings Now Allow Managers to be Added

One a listing has in the Places Dashboard has been upgraded to G+ Page soical functionality, Google inextricably intertwines the listing with the social Page with both (mostly) positive and (some) negative effects. For example deleting the G+ Page will now delete the Dashboard listing and changing owners of the Page will transfer ownership of […]

What is the Value of Embedding a G+ Post on Your Blog? Is there a Local Search Use Case?

Google+ has recently implemented the ability for a Google + post to be embedded on a page with comments on a different domain. It is simmple to implement requiring a small snippet of javascript (<script type=”text/javascript” src=”https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”></script>) be embedded in your header and then simply copy the embed code from the post at + and embed […]

Canadian Categories from the New Dashboard Now Added to Google Category Tool

With the help of Darren Shaw of Whitespark, we have recently added the list of Canadian categories from the new Google Places for Business Dashboard to our searchable Google Places Category Tool. The new Places for Business Dashboard is country specific and the categories that one sees are IP & country specific. Thus I need […]

New Google Places For Business Listings Can Now Be Transferred to a New Owner via G+ Page Management

Update: 12:30: I have changed the title of the article from saying “Account” to “Listings” as what is being transferred is the G+ Page ownership NOT the account. I learned the hard way this past week that a business listing in the new Google Places for Business Dashboard that has been upgraded to social functionality, […]

How to Delete Your Google Places for Business Dashboard Listing in One Easy Step (Or Brainfarts + Bad UI = Bad Outcomes)

Since Google has allowed  business listings created via the (old) Places Dashboard to merge with and take on attributes of a G+ Page for local, it has been standard procedure in certain problem cases to delete the G+ Page and return the listing to a non-social listing. I had done so on numerous occasions with […]

Signing Up for Helpouts- It’s a Snap!

Google Helpouts holds out the promise of allowing local consultants, instructors and trainers of projecting to a world wide market and of allowing national vendors of providing individualized support for the customers. As Phil Rozek pointed out in my post highlighting their new marketing effort there is a lot that can go wrong from conception […]

Google Rolls Out Broader Marketing of Helpouts

Google Helpouts, a G+ based product  ”that enables individuals and small and large businesses to buy and sell services via live video” first came to light in early August. It is a fascinating product that creates a video based marketplace that allows  local trainers, national support personnel and consultants to engage a much larger market. […]

Is This The Future of Local Directory SEO?

new Google local search resultsNick Rink of Smart Local , a UK Local SEO firm, posted a screenshot of this new Google Local SERP this morning on Google+:   I can’t find another example of this, or a full SERP screenshot, but I think there is one of two things going on here: 1) Google is doing this to […]

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Google+ Pages for Local – Which One Is It?

Google is slowly moving towards a G+ local world where there will be two types of G+ Pages for local; claimed and unclaimed. There will be subtle differences between the claimed pages depending on owner configuration (social or no, video or no, owned by a person or a company) but all G+ Pages for local […]

Google Now Auto-Merging Google+ Pages Into Google Places Dashboard Listings

First spotted on Linda Buquets forum earlier today, Google has announced that they have started auto-merging G+ social functionality into basic (upgraded) Dashboard listings. Here is the Google announcement (bold is mine): Starting today, some pages managed in the new Google Places for Business dashboard will be automatically upgraded to have social features. We will […]