Category: Google+ Local

Many have asked whether Google would monetize Posts (or Websites, or Messaging or Insights or…). My thinking is that they will not monetize it directly but will use it as a reason for a business to come back to the Google My Business Dashboard where they can sell them Adwords. And not actually Adwords but … Continue reading Google My Business Using Pop Up Ads to Pitch Adwords Express →

Google, just off releasing a raft of new products and still testing others, has significantly updated the monthly Insights email that is being sent to GMB account owners. This email, one of many email notifications that the GMB is sending out, has signficantly more information than the previous email. Particularly this new email sends specific … Continue reading Google Updates GMB Insights Email →

First reported last week on Twitter by Thibault Adda , I am now seeing a new front page interface that not only allows a business to edit their listing but to get ready access to uploading photos, respond to reviews and be taken to the dashboard for more Insights. Google has long supported the ability … Continue reading Google Testing Increased Front Page GMB Editing & Call to Action →

I was feeling lazy and running a little late so rather than grabbing BART in San Francisco I grabbed an Uber to the airport today. As I typically do, I asked the driver how Uber was treating him given the recent firing of his boss… He grumbled and said they sucked and it was getting … Continue reading Uber & Amazon Flex in California; the Land of Milk, Honey and the Working Poor →

On June 13th Google introduced Google Website, their single page web builder for (very) small businesses, worldwide. The product had been in testing since last year and appears to be targeted primarily at developing countries. How is it going two weeks on? How many sites have been built? I have been tracking the daily increase … Continue reading Google Website Adds 100,000 New Sites Since Launch →

In a post on the Google My Business forum, Google allowed the sharing of a link to a form to for multi-location chains to express their interest in testing multi-location sharing of Posts. They note on the form: Posts for large multi-location businesses Posting across multiple locations is currently not supported in Google My Business. … Continue reading Google Opens Waitlist for Testing Posts with Multi-location Chains →

Google is formally announcing the world wide availability of Google Posts today. The product allows a business to micro-blog directly to their Knowledge Panel result, create Posts of up to 300 characters in length and include a photo. The Post can be further defined as an event with a date range or a call to … Continue reading Google Posts Rolling Out WorldWide →

Summer has finally arrived to Western NY. And for me a burst of energy and new articles. Here are some of the articles I wrote (or in the case of LocalU or StreetFight co-wrote) around the web: Making Sense of Posts in Google’s SMB Product Portfolio – With David Mihmn at Streetfight. I have been following … Continue reading Mike B Around the Local Web →

Consumers have long been fans of reading reviews but have been reticent to actually write reviews. It seems from my longitudinal surveys that that attitude is steadily changing. I was surprised to see the near linear increase in self reported review write AND to learn that those over 65 are just behind 25-35 year olds … Continue reading How Willing Are Consumers to Write Reviews? →

Here are some answers to your Google Website questions. Google My Business Website FAQ Does the site support Schema? No, while the data is structured in a way that makes it easy for Google to read, it does not use Schema Does Websites support SEO? Not really. There is a limit to a single page … Continue reading Google My Business Website FAQ →

Today Google is announcing the worldwide release of their small business web builder, Websites. First spotted in January, it is a simple, single page web builder that allows a business to create a basic webpage in 5 minutes (or less if really simple). It is accessible either via the Google My Business dashboard or if … Continue reading Google MyBusiness Website Builder Released Worldwide →

Google Posts, a simple blogging like tool for the Google My Business Dashboard that posts directly to the Knowledge Panel, is still in beta and is, as yet,  unannounced as a product1. But it now has several Help Pages. The Post Help section has 3 pages: Create a post on Google Edit or delete a … Continue reading Unannounced Google Posts Beta Gets Help Files & Content Policy →

Google Website, their single page website builder, is becoming more widely available. The product is still in beta but the increasing user reports of its availability (h/t to Thibault Adda, the local seo at Darden Restaurants for his Tweet) and the increasing number of sites at the domain suggests that the product is moving toward release. … Continue reading Google My Business Website Appearing More Broadly – Release Imminent? →

Ok. I admit I don’t know if Mark Henderson, Google Local Guide Level 5 really did die from caffeine1 but I do know that he reviewed thousands of Starbucks across the Midwest, the Eastern Seaboard and the South last week. Clearly Mark is a spewer2 that was brought to my attention by reader, Jeff Overmyer … Continue reading Google Level 5 Local Guide Dies of Caffeine Poisoning While Reviewing Thousands of Starbucks Last Week →

Video Deep Dive: Sponsorships as an opportunity in Local Marketing – an educational interview with Megan Hannay of Zipsprout about ideas for leveraging a business’s relationship with local NFP agencies to enhance their digital marketing. (Now also available as a podcast). Video: Last Week in Local May 30, 2017 – Join Mary B and me and guest … Continue reading Mike B Around the Local Web →

Which categories of businesses on Google are most likely to buy reviews? You will find many of the usual suspects and a few surprises as well. I have been exploring review spam networks, review spammers (aka spewers) and the businesses that buy these fake reviews.  In April I wrote about a particular review spam network … Continue reading Review Spam – Which Google Categories Are Worst? →

Yelp is attempting to fix their lack of accurate hours by encouraging the input of special hours for Holidays. Yelp, for all of their consumer strengths in reviews, has been woefully behind in getting accurate business hours from their restaurants. More than once I have selected a restaurant that was stated as opened in Yelp … Continue reading Yelp Encouraging Use of Special Holiday Hours →

This falls into the “learn something new everyday in local” category…. fellow Top Contributor Treebles (a more knowledgeable Google Mapping/MyBusiness expert you will not find) advised me that Google publishes their Streetview update schedule for the year and it includes details as to which countries, states and cities they will be visiting. Who knew? You … Continue reading When Will Google Fix My StreetView Image? →

Phil Barnhart, Director of Marketing at NehMedia, reported out a new test version of Google’s Website Builder. The product appears to have a few upgrades from the previous version I reviewed in January. As Phil noted in his post, it still is limited in many ways: It’s not ready for prime-time – there are no … Continue reading Update on Google’s SMB Website Builder →

Should you add city to your business name at Google? This question recently came in at the Local U forum (paywall): A (small) multi-location retailer who just starting using Yext was told by a Yext rep to append to their business name their city so to distinguish between their various locations. [Business Name] + [City] … Continue reading Should You Add City to Your Business Name at Google My Business? →