Mike Blumenthal

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, …

Google’s newest blog, Google LatLong covers the all of Google’s geographic products and should be of interest to anyone interested in local search. Here is what they have to say: Welcome to the Google “geo” blog. As web mapping (dare I say “the geoweb”?) matures, we’re finding that we have a lot more to communicate …

Several posts of interest to local search (both by Greg Sterling): Yahoo Travel Adds new maps  Google Analytics Adds Local Features with New Upgrade

In late April (I am still catching up on my reading), Bill Slawsky covered a recent patent application by Google: Exploring Click and Pay to Call (CPTC) Google Phone Ads. It was as interesting for what Google has already implemented as well as what they might implement. Clearly (as you can see from the image …

Google has recently upgraded the Local OneBox with additional pins that create a stronger visual point of entry to Maps. In late January, Google’s upgrade of the Local Onebox led to a dramatic increase of traffic to to Google Maps. At the time I noted that: They are still only showing three results. Why three? …

The Real Estate Local OneBox is Missing in Action! Real estate is one of the largest areas in local search. Specifically the search, ‘city, st+ real estate’ consistently shows as having one of the highest frequencies for the ‘service/product + locations’ type searches. Until very recently this type of search (‘real estate + city, st‘) …

I have recently started writing a monthly article for  the  Locals Only section at Search Engine Land. My first article addresses Google’s  role in the area of voice activated  directory assistance. Directory assistance with voice recognition and category listings has the ability to permeate the mobile user market place in the near term and could …

The rate of change in Google Maps has been a topic of discussion. I noted issues with reviews not being updated in almost a year for certain businesses. Matt McGee has a very good piece reviewing his experience. His conclusion: the slow rate of change of these prime listings is great news for the businesses …