Mike Blumenthal

Reader Dimitar Dimitrov sent me this email comment about Google+Local and the attached screen shot of the Google HQ: Hello Mike, I just a reader of your blog (and an SEO freak). I was messing around with the new Google+ Local or whatever they are officially calling it. While me and one of my buddies …

Apparently as part of the migration of Google Places to Google+Local pages, Google has updated & consolidated into one form the input forms for community edits and  the Report a Problem form. Now whether you select edit or report a problem in Google + Local, the current Place Page or from with Google Maps you …

Today Google announced the integration of business pages with Google + and the demise of their Google Place page. This is a change that has long been anticipated and one that simultaneously gives a business more control over their page AND dramatically enhances the review environment. Greg Sterling has a good overview of how specific …

Google has announced in the forums that they will update the Guideline to explicitly ban the use of PO Boxes in both line 1 and 2 of the address fields. P.O. Boxes (and their UPS equivalent) have long been banned by Google for their use in the primary street address line of a listing. This came about …

A common issue that arises in the forums is the business owner that is unable to change or enhance their listing because they no longer have access to the account that it is in, perhaps because they lost the password , the employee that had claimed the listing is no longer employed or they had …

Vanessa Schneider, the Community Manager for the Google Places Forum, has taken the initiative to record a video series summarizing key points that have arisen in the Google Places forums during the previous week. (Note to Google management if you are reading this: GIVE THAT WOMAN A RAISE! She is the best thing to happen …

Would love to see you at our next Getlisted Local University! May 22 – Local University: Syracuse will take place on May 22, 2012 from 8am – 12pm OR 1pm – 5pm at Driver’s Village in Cicero. Your choice of identical 4 hours sessions. Besides the regular speakers (David Mihm, Mary Bowling, Will Scott and myself) the event also  includes …

Google has changed the date information attached to a review and switched from the actual date created to a rough estimate of when it was created. The actual date is still visible if you click through to the reviewer. The change seems to create a greater visual sense of whether reviews are coming in over …