Mike Blumenthal

Scott Hendison of Search Commander in Portland, reported some strange goings on with Google My Business today for clients that were using location extensions in Adwords – a consolidated interface using the current bulk upload interface that presented both the local listing and the AdWords account. From Scott’s post: TWO of three clients that I’ve …

Negative reviews are the one of the hardest issues that SMBs have to confront. Learning how to respond to them effectively is best learned by sharing amongst ourselves and with these same SMBs. So I wanted to try some participatory blogging to tap the collective consciousness about what makes for a good response to a …

I have always wondered about triggers and motives that lay beneath consumer’s desire to leave reviews for local merchants. Fortunately large scale consumer research is now relatively cheap and easy with Google Surveys. I just published the first summary of my search into the question, When and Why do Consumers Leave Reviews for Local Businesses at …

Google is releasing a new app today on Android and shortly on iOS that upgrades the mobile Google My Business experience. The goal of the upgrade was to make the interface and visuals more similar to Google search and provide better feedback as to error states. New features: Improved Editor Easier to find your listing …

Google just released several iOS app updates including the Google Plus app which now supports Collections, Google Maps with an improved review flow and most significantly Google StreetView which now allows both the creation and uploading of PhotoSpheres. PhotoSpheres are the poor man’s version of Business View (as of today called Street View | Trusted), Google’s professionally …

Google is testing Knowledge Panel feature, Place Actions Forms, to allow scheduling via Intuit’s Demand Force with appointment based businesses. You can test it yourself via this search: cahaba valley animal clinic. (h/t Mary Bowling of Ignitor Digital). According to Demand Force “By completing the business forms earlier in the search process, your clients will have …

Update: some interesting observations about differences between the organic results and the 5 pages in the new Lical Finder panel. I am heading out for a few more days vacation so please keep the conversation going.  It appears that Google has upgraded the Knowledge Panel that is visible in the new (early August) Local Finder, with …

Did you know that the star ratings are of less importance than the content of reviews and that readers are more inclined to convert if there are some negative reviews? Those are not the only good things about negative reviews. Read my recent post at GetFivestars.com: 6 Good Things About Negative Reviews for a whole …

Note: I am heading out for a 5 day vacation. Responses might be limited. Please fill in the blanks for me and keep the conversation going. Dave would get lonely otherwise. Google seems to have completed the roll out the new local search result with reports of its visibility from Western Europe, Eastern Europe, UK, Australia, …

I woke this morning to reports of the new mobile styled Snak Pak being seen via Safari in the Netherlands and to it now being seen nationwide in my Firefox browser. Given its increasing visibility across the US and internationally, I would suggest that this is likely a rollout not a test. I have asked …