Category: Google+ Local

In the conversation on my article about the divorce settlement between G+ and Google Local, Maurice Smit made this comment: People sometimes ask me why Google can’t do certain things. There is a misconception that the people at Google are so savy that they can do almost anything. As local marketers we know better, don’t … Continue reading Is Google Stupid or Do They Choose Not to Solve the Local Spam Problem? →

The estrangement and ugly divorce of Goggle Local from G+ is finally, finally ending with the mop up of the last remaining remants of the marriage; those many, many G+ Local Pages that got created in the wild passion of their joining. What always seemed like an unnatural union started going south in 2015 or … Continue reading G+ – Google Local Divorce Mop Up – Who Got the Kids? Not Sure But the Orphans Have Been Nuked →

LocalU has decided to extend our Early Bird pricing until 3/16. Previously set to expire on 3/8 – the special $699 pricing is available to everyone until 3/16/2018 at midnight.  If you’re bringing a group of 3 or more, you’ll receive an extra $50 off per ticket – lowering the price to just $649 per … Continue reading Early Bird Pricing Extended for LocalU Advanced in Austin – April 12, 2018 →

Google, in going way back to the future, appears to be rolling out the ability of a business to enter a business description that appears in their Knowledge Panel. Dave DiGregorio pointed out on Twitter that there are already help files in place.  And he shared the various screens. Anyone else seeing the “From The Business” section … Continue reading Back to the Future: Google Rolling Out Business Descriptions in GMB Dashboard →

Reviews, reviews and more reviews. Jason Brown of ReviewFraud participated in an interesting investigative news report on fake reviews. He wrote about it on his blog: Bulletproof Digital busted selling Fake reviews to NBCLA.  Here is NBC Southern California report: Who’s Really Behind Fake Online Reviews? Jason of also covered an interesting story in the review … Continue reading Who’s Really Behind Fake Online Reviews? →

Here are some articles that I have recently penned or collaborated on this past week: Google Q&A: Google’s Newest Knowledge Panel Feature That You Might Just Hate (or Love) – My recent research into the visibility and impact of Google’s Q & A feature and a plan to cope with it. Unpacking the Increasingly Complex Local … Continue reading Mike B Around the Internet →

Google has added (or has the intention to add) direct notifications of new questions appearing on the Knowledge Panel of local businesses. The option (pre-selected) is available in the settings preferences panel for any location. That being said, I have the settings on but I have yet to receive notifications of questions that are being … Continue reading Google Adds Q & A Notification Option to GMB →

I love local and I love LocalU Advanced. We have scheduled our next events for Austin. We will be doing an SMB event there to help fund Celia Bell’s training foundation on April 11th and on the night of the 11th and the day of the 12th we will be doing a full day Local … Continue reading Local U Advanced Austin – April 12th →

I was alerted on Twitter by Marc Nashaat, a link builder in Toronto, about a new app from Google called Bulletin. From their page: Bulletin is an app for contributing hyperlocal stories about your community, for your community, right from your phone. Bulletin makes it effortless to put a spotlight on inspiring stories that aren’t … Continue reading Google Bulletin – Hyperlocal Community News App in Testing →

I have previously noted naming abuses in the jewelry world around Toronto. Every once in a while I attempt to edit them for some rational outcome. Rational outcomes though are sorely not part of the current Google business name edit world. I rename, get approved, owner (or seo on their behalf) changes back. Rinse, Repeat. … Continue reading Google Local Spam Hall of Shame – The Naming Wars →

I have been heads down for the past several months exploring the ins and outs of Google Questions & Answers. Out of that came a ton of research* and finally some articles: At Local U, Mary Bowling and I discuss Q & A: Video Deep Dive: Google’s Q&A – Questions and Answers examined A three … Continue reading Mike B Around the Interwebs →

Google has announced an update to the Google My Business Website product to now integrate Google Posts into the website content. This is an obvious first move as Google moves Websites from a minimal viable product to something more full featured but still easy to use. The inclusion of Posts creates allows a business to … Continue reading Google Updates GMB Websites to Include Posts as They Pass 1.25 Million Sites Created →

Colan Nielson of Sterling Sky spotted the video option in the Google My Business dashboard starting to appear last week. Google has now officially announced that every dashboard now has the feature to see what videos consumers have uploaded and to upload your own. How it works: Videos will appear in the overview tab of … Continue reading Google My Business Now Officially Supports Video →

In late October I reported of widespread name abuse in the jewelry industry near Toronto. I even flagged it on Google thinking that it was so very obvious that even with their collective spam fighting head stuck so deeply into a dark, posterior orifice they would be able to correctly identify it and remove it. … Continue reading Google Adds Insult to Injury as They Enter the Google Hall of Shame in 2018 →

2017 was the year for the Google My Business Center. There was a massive rollout of paid, free and improved products for Google Local this past year (Posts, Websites, Messaging,  Local Service ads, Q & A, Bookings, API 4.0) and a raft of updates to both the usability and functionality of the GMB. This came … Continue reading Google GMB Strategy & The Role of SMB Outreach →

I recently received these details about the yet unannounced Google My Business Whitelisting program that I wrote about last month. The program allows large agencies to not have to go through the normal postcard verification process and to have the listings instantly verified. The writer asked to remain anonymous. I have been unable to verify … Continue reading Google My Business Verification Whitelisting Update →

Last week a number of agencies noted that theirs and their client’s Knowledge Panel were not showing on a non- geo-modified brand search when they had been previously. I don’t doubt that Google changed something. The reports were to pervasive to think that it was just a Google brain fart. What I think that they … Continue reading Thoughts About Local Knowledge Panels Not Showing for Branded Searches →

Marci Weiche is a realtor in Buffalo Mn. And a good one whose husband cares about her website and is making sure her digital presence is up to snuff. I am not sure if this is a test or the new normal for realtors but this search result is really up to snuff. Note the … Continue reading Google Local Realtor Search Result – On Steroids →

Google has updated the home view of each business so that each business is presented with a view of their Google data that is unique and important to that business. Depending on activity and busness type the calls to action and features highlighted will very on a business by business basis. Previously the home view … Continue reading Google Updates GMB Home View for Businesses →

I have been traveling a lot and writing less than I would like… hopefully I will be able to get some more content out the door over the next few months…. Here are articles/interviews/podcasts where I have add my 2 cents of late: Voice of America Interview with Kimberli J. Lewis: Business Growth through Presence … Continue reading Mike B around the Interwebs →