Mike Blumenthal

At SearchEngineLand Greg Sterling has given a mini review of the Maps layout in: Universal Search Spawns New Format for Maps. From Greg’s post: In conjunction with Universal Search, the Google Maps team created a new “text view” that features images of local businesses and a smaller map. The placement of ads is different, below …

Here are two screen shots of on the Onebox returned for “city + st” search on Google today. Note the differences in map size and the inclusion of the “get directions” field and button in one of the results. I have explored a number of hypothesis as to why & when the difference occurs (existence …

Many of the changes that we have been seeing in google Maps over the past few days have been part of Google’s new Universal search upgrade. These upgrades magnify the importance of Google Maps as they allow for “The best answer is still the best answer” local results to be inserted in all of Google’s …

Google Maps has recently upgraded the information that is now displayed with the business. The display now includes images, reviews and owner provided description if available. Note in the after results image, that when an owner entered description was not available, reviews were substituted. This highlights why an owner should control their listing. Here are …

Earl the Pearl has reported at SEO Refugee of the expanded presence of the Local OneBox on broader geographic phrases and broader business categories. He notes: Onebox maps are now returned on searches by state names, ie Used cars Florida, Nursing School Pennsylvania. Previously its appearance was more locally focused for queries like used cars …

*From Geeking with Greg – Google News Personalization Paper while it speaks directly to Google News the overview of personalization is of importance to all search. *From Bill Slawski at Seo by the Sea – Yahoo’s Clickable Map Advertising with Product Inventory Displays

Here are two screen shots comparing the Local OneBox before and after the recent upgrade (first noted by Matt McGee). Something that had escaped my attention was that while the width is the same, to accommodate the additional pins, Google has truncated some of the business names. Note the difference between “The Beefeaters Restaurant” examples.

I have been a fan of Goog-411 since its pre-beta days as 520-Find. I found it to be the fastest, most focused voice activated directory assistance. It seemed a natural extension of local search in an incredibly interesting direction. Not without its problems, but very useful as a business tool when driving down the highway, …