Mike Blumenthal

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

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 too pervasive to think that it was just a Google brain fart. What I think that they …

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 …