Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Entries Written By Mike Blumenthal
Google Expands Offers with Groupon Like Features
Yipit reported yesterday that Google is rolling out an expansion of their Offers program with Groupon like features in the test markets of NY, San Francisco, Oakland and Portland. Users may sign up Google.com/offers and if you want to be notified of future launches you can leave your email with Google on this form. When …
Google Releases Map Maker in the US
It wasn’t clear why Google was deprecating MyMaps over the past several months; removing the ability to search them from Maps in January and removing them from Places last month. Now we know. It appears that MyMaps is being deprecated in the US in favor of Google’s much more robust community map making tool Map …
Google Places Schwag, Schwag and More Schwag in More Places
The Google Places with Hotpot promotion that started in Portland in December, 2010 is now ongoing in four additional cities: Austin, Las Vegas, Madison and Charlotte. As a part of the promotion, any business in any of those cities that claims their listing is eligible for a business kit that includes Google bling. Apparently several …
The Logic Behind the Demise of Google Tags
When a company like Google discontinues a product like Tags there is almost always more than one reason. Google’s publicly stated reason that they need to focus their efforts on which technologies they expect will yield the most benefit to users and businesses is very plausible. I think that the statement is accurate as far …
Google Still Advertising HotPot
Google Hotpot was discontinued as a distinct product line last week. It was merged into Places and the Hotpot brand was summarily executed. Apparently the folks promoting it on Adwords have not yet been informed of the change. I saw this ad today.
Google Email Explaining Demise of Tags
For those of you that are not running Tags campaigns here is the letter that Google sent: Subject: Google Places Notice: Google Tags to be retired on 4/29 Reply-To: googleplaces-noreply@google.com Google Tags to be retired on 4/29 Dear Google Places user, At Google, we’re always working to innovate and improve ways for small businesses to …
Google Discontinues Tags
Google Local is shedding products & names almost as fast they are making them these days…they just announced the end of Tags on the Lat Long Blog. I guess I didn’t realize that it was still a trial and was under the impression that it was a real product. Silly me. From their blog: Since …
It’s Tax Time but Don’t Search for the IRS in Sturgis MI
It’s tax time so folks all across the US are calling the IRS with questions. Where are many of them getting the number? Well Google of course. If you live in Sturgis, MI (population 10,696) though you need to be careful. If you search for the IRS in Sturgis, you will be given the local …
BrightLocal Survey- 59% of Consumers use Google Each Month to Find a Good Local Business
Brightlocal.com, a provider of local search tools for local marketers and SMBs, has released a new survey of Local SEO’s and US consumers title: Where do local business websites get their traffic & do consumers appreciate local search results? They surveyed 648 Local SEOs and 1,250 US consumers as to the value of Local search …
SuperPages – Let Your Fingers Do Less Walking
AT&T may say that print YP is still strong. And it may be for AT&T, although I doubt it. I live in Verizon country and I just recieved the 2011 version of my local SuperPages. Their book tells another story. It seems to be getting thinner every year. I wish I could do that. – …
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