Leaked Documents Show How Yelp Thinks It’s Not Getting Screwed By Google
Yelp may once again feel Google is robbing it of its fair share of search traffic, with a study that’s been leaked to TechCrunch to prove it. A close read of that study actually shows that it proves the opposite — or at least, that it’s certainly not as damning as it sounds….
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Google Maps Adds Distance Measuring Feature
Google has quietly announced on Google+ that they have added the distance measuring feature to the new version of Google Maps. The feature allows you to draw points on Google Maps to see how far in distance (feet/miles/etc) it is from one point to the …
Supreme Court Rules Street View “Wiretapping” Class Action Can Proceed Against Google
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Supreme Court will not review a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing a class-action lawsuit that argues Google violated the federal “Wiretap Act” when it intercepted private email and other personal data. The appellate court decision…
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New: Google My Business iOS & Android Apps
Google announced they have released a mobile app for the new Google My Business. In summary, Google My Business is the new unified interface designed to make life easier for local businesses as well as brands to be better found within Google. The apps …
Is Your Local Business Ready For Google’s Neighborhood Algorithm?
While doing some research in Costa Mesa, CA last week, I hit a Google test bucket that specified the East Side Costa Mesa neighborhood as my location in Search Tools: Google has long understood super well-known dense neighborhoods like SoHo, NY. But there’s a good reason why neighborhoods,…
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Amazon Fire Phone: Bing For Search, Nokia For Maps
The emerging consensus from the early “hands on” or “first look” reviews is that the Amazon Fire Phone has some novel and interesting features but that it doesn’t measure up, overall, to the iPhone or “true Android” devices. I’ve argued that Amazon…
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Google Knowledge Graph Adds Phone Numbers With Hangout Integration
Now, if you search for your favorite local restaurant, bar, business and the like on Google; Google may show you a phone number in the knowledge graph top box that is clickable. When you click the phone number, it will dynamically open up Google Hangou…
Google Introduces Richer Flight Search Experience
Google is introducing a revamped flight and hotel travel search experience. To date both products have been mostly underwhelming. The big promises of Google’s ITA acquisition have yet to bear fruit but that may change with the new Google Flight and travel search experience. Previously the…
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New “Google My Business” Simplifies Local Marketing For SMBs
For quite some time since the introduction of Google+ Local, managing local listings and content across Google properties has confused many local SEOs and local business owners alike. Now Google has launched a new and more integrated approach called Go…
Another New Easter Egg In Google Maps: Travel By Royal Carriage
Google announced a new easter egg in Google Maps today via Google+ where if you do driving directions from Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, Google Maps will offer driving directions via Royal Carriage. This comes about a week after Google disclose…
After 5 Years In Dispute, Greece Approves Google Maps Street View Images
ABC.com reported yesterday that Google Maps has launched street view images in Greece. According to the story, Greece authorities blocked Google Maps Street Views five years ago because of privacy issues. According to ABC.com: Company officials said th…
Google Adds Street View Tours Of World Cup Stadiums
With the World Cup just a week away, Google has expanded its Street View imagery to coincide with the biggest sporting event on earth. Available today is new imagery inside all 12 stadiums that will be used during the tournament. You can do a 360-degre…
New: Connect Your Google+ Business Page To Your Google Maps Listing
Google has now enabled those with Google+ business pages to connect their page to their local business listing on Google Maps. On the help page Google gives detailed directions on how to connect your Google+ business page to your Google Maps verified l…
A New Easter Egg In Google Maps: Travel By Loch Ness Monster
There is a new easter egg on Google Maps, one that gives you travel and transit directions by Loch Ness Monster. If you get directions from Fort Augustus to Urquhart Castle when in Google Maps, Google will show the option of traveling via Loch Ness Mon…
Google Maps Now Has Driving Directions In North Korea
North Korea Tech reports that Google Maps now has driving directions in North Korea. As the site reports, “North Korea has strict controls on internal movement, a scarcity of private car ownership and almost no Internet users.” Despite all of that, Google Maps can give those who do have…
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The Google Local Carousel Is Still Spinning Out Of Control
Almost a year ago, Google threw everyone for a loop with the rollout of the Google Local Carousel. The SEO community scrambled to try to figure out how it worked, and theories started flying about how it would change search behavior. It was immediately evident that a location’s Carousel photo…
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How SkyBox Satellite Imagery Might Aid Google’s Offline Conversion Tracking
There’s a report this morning that Google is close to buying satellite imaging company SkyBox. The purchase price is put at roughly $1 billion. The deal has yet to be confirmed. The article conjectures that Google wants the company for two potential reasons: More imagery for consumer maps…
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Founder: OpenStreetMap Already As Good Or Better Than Google Maps
Steve Coast founded OpenStreetMap (OSM) in the UK in 2004. It’s 10 years old this year. He was inspired by the Wikipedia model and compelled by a lack of available map and location data in the UK at that time. Coast now works for GPS navigation company Telenav, which owns location-based…
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Google “Mapping” Real World With Incredible Precision For Self-Driving Cars
A fascinating article in the Atlantic appeared this weekend. It’s mostly about Google’s self-driving cars and how they operate technically. But it’s also about something much bigger: how Google is now effectively “crawling” the real world as it has crawled the web for…
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Google Places Bulk Management Tool Integrates New Google+ Feature
Google announced new updates to its Google Places bulk location management tool this week, including a new Google+ social feature. From Googler Jade Wang’s announcement in a Google Product Forum: Each location in upgraded and verified accounts will have social features automatically enabled….
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