Category: Google+ Local

Google Maps announced yesterday that searchers can now follow their favorite businesses and be alerted to offer and event Posts from that business.  I have long believed that Google Posts is a solid investment of a business’s time as Posts show up in a brand search, in the local finder and on keyword searches in … Continue reading Google Maps “Follow Posts” – a Revolution or Just More “S%t” Thrown at the Wall? →

This is my third post in the “who the f knows” series. Google has rarely been accused of great wordsmithing. But they have been accused of testing. In this case it appears that they are testing wordsmithing. Seeing the schedule/book/make an appointment CTA in the 3 pack motivated me, like any rational local searcher,  to … Continue reading How Does Reserve with Google Show in the Knowledge Panel ? Who the ‘f knows! →

I will be heading out on vacation on Friday so my production will be non existent for the next month or so. But if you haven’t heard enough of me for the past few days here are some other tidbits I worked on across the interwebs: Google and the On-SERP Experience: We’re Just Gettin’ Warmed … Continue reading Mike B Around the Interwebs →

This is my second post in the “who the f knows” series. And it relates to Google now showing the book or schedule button in the 3 pack. Or not showing as the case may be. When your boss comes and sees you and asks why are your booking buttons not showing you can either … Continue reading When Does Reserve with Google Show? Only Google F’ing Knows →

Transactions in Local Search via Google’s Reserve with Google tool have historically been limited to Knowledge Panel results. It appears that this transactional capabilities being expanded or will be expanded to include embedding calls to action directly into the Local 3-Pack search results. And given Google’s obvious expansion of the Reserve with Google we can … Continue reading Reserve with Google Makes its Way into the 3- Pack SERP on Google →

Last week we learned of both a new Google My Business feature (in beta), ‘Add Product Collection’ and new GMB Insight’s data, ‘Branded Searches’. Both are interesting features individually but together, they are even more interesting. The GMB Branded searches, reported at SEL by Barry Schwartz, is apparently being rolled out. As noted in the … Continue reading Google My Business New Features: ‘Add Product Collection’ & ‘Branded Search Insights’ – The Bigger Picture →

Near Me searches have generally been on the uptick since the advent of the iPhone. But there have been the occasional downturns that were misinterpreted as a break in the trend. Now that we have more data, it appears that those downturns and subsequent peaks are seasonal lows and highs of a generally increasing  usage … Continue reading The Seasonality of Near Me Searches in Local →

Last week, off and on, we started seeing the use of the image carousel in the mobile Local Finder.  This is a format that has long been present in the restaurant search results. The carousels have been seen off and on since then, showing up and then disappearing, only to show once again. When they … Continue reading Preparing Images for the (Coming?) Google Mobile Local Carousel →

It appears that Google updating the mobile Local Finder to the “restaurant style” carousel slider type display. Earlier in the day Phil Barnhart pointed out that he was seeing this new display on dog grooming. I started seeing it initially on Chrome on iPhone as well across  many categories and by the end of the … Continue reading Is Google Updating the Mobile Local Finder to the “Slider Style” →

TLDR; Google has reduced the visibility of posts in both mobile and desktop search while simultaneously increasing their reach by now showing them (at least some of the time) in Google Maps. At the end of September, Google upended the visibility of Posts on both the desktop and mobile. On the desktop posts have been … Continue reading Google Reduced Post Visibility but Now Also Showing Them in Google Maps. →

At Google I/O a preview of Google’s Assistant Duplex, Google’s AI based human sounding  digital assistant that can auto create reservations, set off a maelstrom of both interest and criticism. The Announcement from the Google My Business Forum Hey everyone! At our annual conference Google I/O, we showed a preview of a new feature in … Continue reading Google Rolling Out Assistant Duplex Test to Four Cities This Month →

I was sitting on my office, doing “research” and did the same local search (Custom Jewelry Design Williamsville) on my iPhone in three different Google mobile environments; Safari, Chrome and the Google App. All within seconds of each other. Next time your boss comes and asks you what’s up with the local search results, throw … Continue reading What’s Up with the Local Search Results…. Who the f knows? →

Last December we started seeing thumbnails in the mobile local organic results. What was obviously a test then became more visible over the summer and starting last month, became widely visible. It is a mobile only feature that made me and several clients curious. How was it triggered? Why & when does it show? Why … Continue reading Local Mobile Image Thumbnail SERPS – It’s All About Context →

Last week Google, in a disappointing action,  moved Google Posts from front in center of the Knowledge Panel to the bottom of the KP in organic and to the middle of the search results in mobile. Obviously, this is likely to cause a reduction on conversions as the Posts are less visible and lower on … Continue reading Google Testing New Knowledge Panel Changes →

TLDR: ~7% of businesses world wide that have verified their business listing are using Google Posts and roughly 26% of verified business in the US were doing so. On a percentage basis the use of posts was highest, around 30%, in Spain, Italy and Japan. The developed world has significantly more updake of this feature … Continue reading What Percentage of Verified Businesses Use Google Posts? →

In June of this past year, as Google My Business Website reached the age of one, I noted that businesses had created 2 million of these single page mobile ready websites. The rate of uptake, particularly in Asia and Brazil, has accelerated and there are now almost 12 million of these sites world wide. 10 … Continue reading Google My Business Websites Zoom Past 10 Million as Asian Adoption Accelerates →

When I helped start GetFiveStars, I did so with the idea that local businesses small and big deserved world class tools that helped them navigate and benefit from the world of reviews. And I also wanted to be sure that the agencies that helped them could leverage the more advanced features of these tools to … Continue reading GetFiveStars Introduces a new website tool – the Conversion Pop-Up →

Google has been expanding the branded local search results. Most recently (last November timeframe) they added an About tab that included corporate information, often a link to wikipedia or the main corporate about us page and social links Today I started seeing the inclusion of a Posts Tab in these results. Interestingly this is NOT … Continue reading Google Adds Posts to Local Branded Search Results →

Tim Capper pointed out a few weeks ago How Google Exploits the Hospitality Industry for Profit.  Bed and Breakfasts are hotels so they have to put up with all of that and then some. Growing up my father raised dogs. When there was a new litter, the runt was often forced to the rear and … Continue reading Bed & Breakfasts Forced to “Suck Hind Teat” at Google →

I just saw this Google My Business Insight feature: Queries used to find your businessSend feedback. Per Google these are “The most popular queries for your business by unique users” I have been on a trip for the past week and less than observant of Insights so this could have shown up at any point … Continue reading Google Insights – Queries used to find your business →